This week, we had the honor of sitting down to breakfast with WWE Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax to talk about the new season of Total Divas, body positivity, Christmas songs and so much more. Their best friendship is 100% real, and you’ll be able to tell as they talk about signing with WWE, coming up through NXT, and sharing a reality show billing with Larry-Steve the pig. This one’s a treat — especially for world’s legitimately biggest Total Divas fan Bill — and you don’t want to miss it.

(As a quick note, we had a little bit of a sound issue recording with four microphones during breakfast, so if Brandon occasionally sounds like he’s asking questions from the hallway, we apologize!)

Make sure you send your thoughts and questions to withspandexpodcast@uproxx.com, because we’ll read the best emails on the show, and we have a lot of cool giveaways to give away.

George Murdoch — possibly one of the most “pro wrestler” shoot names this side of “Barbie Blank” or “Richard Blood” — is likely best known as Brodus Clay, who in turn is likely best known as being the only living Funkasaurus in captivity during his time with WWE. But in all honesty, he’s probably well on his way to being BEST-best-known as Machu Picchu’s brother on GLOW, a legacy we can all be jealous of.

But Clay also spent the better part of three years as Tyrus in Impact Wrestling, where he was first introduced as an associate of EC3. He took a hiatus from Impact in April of this year, but returned during the August set of tapings. Not too long after that, he announced that he would be sitting out of what was at the time Global Force Wrestling, and claimed the company treated him like a “second class citizen.”

“When Jeff Jarrett came along — because him and I have an uncomfortable history — I just wasn’t comfortable with the management. [TNA] didn’t want me working for Jeff. Basically, it came down to either stay with Impact, or I could go with Global. I was making more with Impact, and Global didn’t have the resources to pay me what I was making. [Jeff] was basically saying it was better for me to come to Global, because Impact was about to fold. He was very adamant about that. Two weeks later, at the TV tapings, guess whose ass is there working the shows? Jeff Jarrett. I was like, ‘Bitch, [are] you crazy?!?’ Who does that?

“Check it: If I would have quit and taken money out of my family’s mouths, went and worked there and then, ‘Oh, we’re going to have to go work Impact … ’ How would that have gone?!

“[When Jarrett once again took over Impact], I was like, ‘Oh, sh*t! Well, I’m out.’ Unless [Jarrett] and I were going to have a sitdown, which just wasn’t going to happen, I knew this was not going to be a spot for me. I just wasn’t comfortable with it.”

Yeah, I’m going to say Tyrus and Jarrett probably didn’t get along very well! You can listen to the full episode of the podcast at this link.

And of course, there’s also the upcoming 205 Live branded mini-tour. But that series of live events will have one less player on the roster when they hit the road, because Noam Dar is legitimately injured. Works through an injury? No, am Dar!

Dar previously suffered a mystery ailment in March, but that didn’t keep him out of action for long (although it did come in the midst of an actual wave of injuries to WWE’s cruiserweights). Now the Scotsman, who is a member of the Zo Train, is going to be on the shelf for the foreseeable future.
oPWInsider reports that Dar is currently out due to a knee injury, and that he will need surgery to “clean up” his knee, which sounds like an arthroscopic procedure to deal with a tear, or perhaps bone spurs or other loose bodies. Regardless, a legitimate knee injury will likely take at least several weeks to recover from and rehab, so we wish him all the best and a speedy recovery.

No word as of yet on how Dar’s former valet, the BYOO’IFUL ALICIA FAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHZ is taking this news.

Tuesday marked the first night of Hanukkah, which means we’re still in for seven additional crazy nights. But perhaps the craziest (and best) night has already happened, because WWE enlisted their best and most currently notable Jewish Superstar to do some very fun education of the rest of the roster.

If you aren’t familiar with Gulak’s overt Jewish pride, well then you apparently aren’t familiar with the time that he single-handedly defeated anti-Semitism.

Remember, people: he’s woke. He’s a woke man. And as such, he is the IDEAL and ONLY candidate to teach the wonderful game of dreidel to his fellow WWE Superstars, including Bayley, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Carmella, Kalisto, the Ascension, and Shinsuke Nakamura. He didn’t even need a PowerPoint presentation to do it! BUT HE USED SLIDES ANYWAY. BEHOLD:

Carmella shrugging when Gulak asks if she has any Hanukkah memories is maybe the third-best part. The Ascension playing dreidel in full makeup is maybe the second-best part. Kalisto barely talking throughout is the clear winner here. Ha! Just kidding. Drew Gulak is the big winner. Now and forever. … The winner of OUR HEARTS.

By now, you’re all sick and tired of my insistence that Total Divas is the greatest television show of all time. And while that is objectively, empirically true, I will save you from my gushing (mostly) and just let you know that we’re now up to the midway point of season seven, the season where Rusev met a baby pig.

While the show remains extremely good (and even more so with the infusion of new cast members Alex Bliss, Nia Jax, and Carmella), the holidays are nearly upon us, which means the show will be going dark for the next couple weeks while everyone spends time with their family or whatever.

So the sad news is no new Total Bellas for the remainder of the year, but the GREAT news is that there’s a mid-season teaser here to get you pumped for what’s still to come in season seven.

We encourage you to watch this a few times and hit pause often to get some of those good, quick flashes of brilliance in your system.

VERY IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON:

– Natalya winning the Smackdown Women’s Championship
– Rusev apparently being licked by a drag queen
– Maryse’s pregnancy
– Rusev and that drag queen tho
– Nikki on Dancing with the Stars
– Lana becoming a professional farmer
– I MUST KNOW THE STORY OF RUSEV AND THAT DRAG QUEEN AT ONCE

It’s going to be a rough couple of weeks with Total Divas being gone, and only the stupid holidays to keep us warm. This is unacceptable, but we’ll have to muddle through, somehow.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/total-divas-mid-season-7-teaser-trailer/feed/0Rusev-drag-queen.jpgThe Royal Rumble Main Event Is Reportedly What You Were Expectinghttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-rumors-brock-lesnar-royal-rumble-title-match/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-rumors-brock-lesnar-royal-rumble-title-match/#commentsWed, 13 Dec 2017 14:45:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400989919

YouTube

Well, we guessed this one was coming. All of us guessed it. Literally everyone. Not initially, of course. Only after the main event of Monday night’s WWE Raw.

Okay, let me back up! Brock Lesnar’s Royal Rumble opponent for his WWE Universal Championship match in January has apparently been something of a moving target. Basically, everyone knows Lesnar is holding the title until WrestleMania 34, when he will face Roman Reigns. It’s just a matter of getting to that match, and since Lesnar has already beaten challengers like Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman, there’s not much left to go around … especially since his originally-planned opponent, Finn Bálor, was supposedly deemed entirely “not Kane” enough to challenge for Lesnar’s title.

When the double count-out happened to end the match, basically everyone watching who had previously seen pro wrestling assumed that this likely meant we would get a Triple Threat match for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. We don’t have to wait until next week to confirm that, apparently, as Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that this is the current plan.

“Just so everyone knows: it is a three-way. It is Brock Lesnar, Kane, and Strowman. They didn’t announce it. When the show was over, that was certainly the implication you would get. That is Vince McMahon’s call, that was the decision that he made. There were a bunch of different things pitched …

“So that is the plan, unless Vince changes his mind again. I don’t think he’s going to, given what they did, but this would be my speculation. Because the whole thing of Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman, why he didn’t want to do it, was because he didn’t feel this is the time to beat Braun Strowman, and he’s not going to beat Brock Lesnar, for obvious reasons. Nor should he. And he really shouldn’t be beating Strowman, either. He’s beaten Strowman once; he doesn’t want to do it again.”

Of course, there’s always time for WWE to reverse course yet again. Heck, with them being so multi-person-match crazy at the moment (just check out the Clash of Champions card), maybe we’ll even get Bálor added back in and have a Fatal 4-Way.

Perhaps you remember back when Cody Rhodes was granted his release by WWE, and he celebrated the occasion by tweeting out a wish list of opponents and moments he wanted to experience on the indie circuit. You probably remember. Still! Here that is, for reference. This will be important in a moment.

Rhodes blew through those in a couple of months. And now almost all the people on that list are in WWE! That’s pretty wild. Anyway, the latest person to join Cody in “not working for WWE anymore” is James Ellsworth, whose whirlwind year in WWE came to an end a couple of weeks ago, but not before he spent the entire European tour getting his ass handed to him by the entire Smackdown women’s division.

Ellsworth’s swan song on WWE television was finally being granted a match against Becky Lynch, which was the first WWE intergender match in absolutely ages. Lynch and Ellsworth had been angling for a match against each other on social media for literal months, so it was a great gesture extended to the epitome of a good employee for his final hurrah with the company.

So now that Ellsworth is suddenly one of the biggest-name free agents on the indies (after barely being known outside of his local promotions before being a Braun Strowman punching bag), he’s free to intergender-wrestle his little heart out. And in a superb, sublime homage to Cody, it looks like he’s intending to do just that.

OKAY SO the first thing we need to address is that James Ellsworth fundamentally does not understand how checklists work, since he made a check box next to Lynch’s name and then crossed her name out. That makes me genuinely furious, but I’m going to move on, because the rest of it is so good.

It’s a veritable who’s-who of women on the indies against whom Ellsworth is probably going to have phenomenal and hilarious matches, and I cannot wait to pay money to see one of them in person. And although there are some notable omissions like Viper and Jazzy Gabert, Ellsworth also probably doesn’t want to get shoot murdered in his first months as a hot property.

Well done, James. I wish nothing but the best for you.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/james-ellsworth-checklist-intergender-wrestling/feed/8James-Ellswroth.jpgCody Rhodes Claims He’s Earned Seven Figures In His First Year On The Indieshttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/cody-rhodes-seven-figure-salary-indie-wrestling/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/cody-rhodes-seven-figure-salary-indie-wrestling/#commentsTue, 12 Dec 2017 16:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400986815

Mostly, though, he’s been a fixture of both Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling as “The American Nightmare,” an integral inner-circle member of the Bullet Club. He’s the current ROH world champ, and has signed a full-time contract with the company (which essentially means he’s signed a contract with both companies, given their very close working relationship at the moment).

As part of the Bullet Club, Cody has his “American Nightmare” BC shirts in every Hot Topic in the country, and they’re reportedly selling like hotcakes. Hell, Cody even has his own wine. He and the Young Bucks are making so much money on their own on the international indie scene that they’re even planning on promoting their own 10,000-seat arena show next year, and are in the process of finalizing a venue.

How much money does it cost to rent out a 10,000-seat arena? A lot! Thankfully, “a lot” is how much Cody has been making since being granted his WWE release. During an interview with Busted Open Radio, Cody said that he earned seven figures in 2017, which is more than he ever made in a single year during his decade under contract with WWE. (Transcript via Wresting Inc.)

“Not to sound tacky, but this has been the first seven-figure year I’ve ever had and it blows me away that it happened, so on that end, for my family and well-being, that part has been the best. But also, the part I enjoy the most, the fans and the creative element of what we do, I keep saying it, but to play music how you want to play it, it [has] never been like this before for me …

“I look at a time, my WWE Intercontinental Championship run as my favorite thing I ever did, because I got to change the belt [design], and I got to be involved in a couple of WrestleManias with that in the picture, but this time, now, has completely passed it by, blown it away. Being a world champion is all that it was cracked up to be from every world champion that there ever was that told me about it. It [has] certainly been everything that I dreamed and hoped for.”

From his being able to check off pretty much every item on his “wish list” in a matter of months, to getting ready to pack an arena with no backing other than his personal funds and the support of his friends, it really sounds like Cody is living his dream in all respects. All he had to do was leave the only organization he’d ever wrestled for!

On Monday afternoon, WWE announced that the winner of the grudge match between Kane and Braun Strowman on Raw would determine who would go on to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble in January.

Over the past month or so, there had been a lot of speculation and scuttlebutt about who might end up challenging for the Universal title at the Rumble, as Lesnar would definitely be expected to compete on one of the three biggest shows that WWE presents every year.

Word is that the original Rumble opponent for Lesnar was former Universal Champion Finn Bálor, but WWE reportedly lost confidence in Bálor as a challenger to Lesnar’s title. After that, rumors flew that perhaps Lesnar would face Strowman again, or maybe even that Lesnar just wouldn’t put the title on the line at all at January’s event.

Well, guess what. We still don’t know who’s going to face Lesnar at the Royal Rumble! Instead of giving us a definitive winner of the match, WWE elected to do … not that. After kicking out of multiple chokeslams, Strowman appeared to have the upper hand when the fight spilled to the outside. That’s when Strowman put himself and Kane through the barricade, and the match ended in a countout.

USA Network

Strowman and Kane continued to brawl after the match was over, and the whole thing ended with a very cool dual sit-up spot, and then Braun putting Kane through a table with the running powerslam.

USA Network

USA Network

You can watch the vicious end of Raw right here:

No telling what this means for Brock Lesnar and the Royal Rumble. Likely, this means the match will be a Triple Threat, but really, your guess is as good as ours. WWE Week! Catch the excitement!

It might be hard to believe, but Ryback has now been gone from WWE for over a year. In his time since leaving the company and picking up work on the independent scene, he’s been one of the most outspoken wrestlers in the entire world, never afraid to voice his opinion or spill some tea.

Lucha Underground has taken some fire at times for locking up talent to long-term contracts — contracts that grant television exclusivity to Lucha Underground, even though in the case of the last season, some contracts didn’t end until the last episode aired, even if it happened to be some 18 months after the shows were actually taped. Lucha Underground is now willing to grant contract releases to talent who request them, but it was one of those exclusive contracts that kept Ryback from going to Lucha Underground when he parted ways with WWE. Here’s what he had to say. (Transcript via Wrestling Inc.)

“When I left WWE, they had reached out for doing a season and they wanted to do a contract where, essentially I couldn’t do anything for a year. You are done filming in two to three months and it’s bullsh*t. I said no thanks.

“People think it is cool to say that you signed a contract, but you are really being dumb as f*ck if you don’t look over the contract. Everything revolves around making money, but a lot of these businesses will do things that are not good for you, and you have to be smart enough. They prey on the price of how bad you want to be ‘famous’, but I’ve got news for you, doing it is not going to make you famous, on that level. It’s great and a different product and option, but you have to have a business sense with this stuff. It is good that they are being more fair on that aspect also, which is a good thing.”

For the record, he also had good things to say about Lucha Underground:

“I think it’s good. It is a different product, where they are more of a drama with wrestling on it. It is just a different product,. The more places there are for guys to get work then that is good. I am glad that they are doing a season 4, and allowing guys to work at other places.”

Maybe with the new contract structure, Ryback might finally head to the Temple. It’s too bad we missed out on him being Night Claw XL or Mecha Texano or whatever. Let’s keep that dream alive.

There are certain pro wrestling moves that you’d absolutely kill to see delivered in the context of an MMA fight. A Go 2 Sleep, a Hulk Hogan-style big leg drop … heck, I’d give a whole lot of money to see an MMA fighter do that thing where he pats his own elbow before delivering an elbow drop to a grounded opponent.

And then there are the pro wrestling holds that you wonder why you DON’T see them a million times in real fights. Everyone here at With Spandex loses their mind any time there’s an MMA fight with a shoot powerbomb or German suplex. It’s just exciting as hell. And it sort of outs hardcore MMA fans as secret pro wrestling enthusiasts, also, because that stuff is undeniably badass.

On Sunday night, an MMA fighter used a pro wrestling maneuver that I’ve never seen utilized in a shoot fight before, and never thought of someone using it. But after seeing it … damn, this is effective as hell. Why doesn’t EVERYONE use this? I’m referring, of course, to the noble dragon sleeper.

Yep, that’s a real life dragon sleeper, all right. Innovated by Tatsumi Fujinami, popularized in the next generation by Ultimo Dragon and then in the NEXT generation by Low-Ki, among others, that’s a stone cold wrestling hold that looks like it nearly broke that poor dude’s spine when it was actually applied for real. That is cold as friggin ice.

If you’re wondering what Fujinami’s version looked like:

Oh and what the hell, here’s Ultimo’s, too. Because it’s beautiful. And so are you.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/mma-dragon-sleeper-finish-video/feed/1Dragon-sleeper-MMA.jpgChris Jericho Appeared At A New Japan Show To Attack Kenny Omegahttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/chris-jericho-new-japan-surprise-appearance/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/chris-jericho-new-japan-surprise-appearance/#commentsMon, 11 Dec 2017 14:25:22 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400984335

He’s also gearing up to have his first match outside WWE in nearly two decades. On January 4, Jericho will appear at Wrestle Kingdom 12, New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year, to have a bona fide generational dream match as he takes on Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.

But as it turns out, we didn’t have to wait until January 4 to see these two mega-stars get physical.

On Monday, New Japan held the finals of its last tournament of 2017, as the World Tag League came to an end in Fukuoka. Omega appeared in a six-man tag match on that card, teaming with his Elite Brethren the Young Bucks as they defeated Roppongi 3K of Sho and Yoh and mentor Rocky Romero. After the match, Omega was alone in the ring as another Jericho video aired, taunting Omega and promising to beat the hell out of him.

Then the lights went out and Jericho appeared in the flesh, making good on his promise.

If you only have a passing familiarity with the name “Kris Wolf,” you probably know her as the weird wolf-themed wrestler based out of Japan. If you have more than a passing familiarity with her, there’s a strong chance that she’s one of your favorite wrestlers. And if you’re not familiar with her at all, well guess what? She’s probably about to become one of your favorite wrestlers.

We got a chance to sit down and talk with Kris last week, when she was in the United States for some big joint shows put on in Southern California by RISE Wrestling, AWS, and Wolf’s home promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to find out firsthand how one goes about becoming a literal wolf.

WITH SPANDEX: How do you explain Kris Wolf to people? Because you’re literally a wolf, and you like to eat children —

Kris Wolf: I like to eat everybody.

You’re an equal opportunity devourer.

Exactly.

But how do you explain Kris Wolf, honestly?

Kris is a feeling. It’s a feeling in your heart and in your gut. That was it. There’s nothing else.

I wanted to ask you about how you started your journey as a pro wrestler because you have sort of an unorthodox story, I think. You didn’t really come to it the way a lot of wrestlers come to pro wrestling. Take us through your journey.

Well, I was born of my mother.

Maybe fast forward a little bit.

Well, uh, I guess the general direction of that started when I first came to Japan. Like, I came to Japan to get over a broken relationship. I was gonna get married; didn’t work out. That sucked. I didn’t know what to do, so I went to visit my friend here in Japan, rented a bicycle and a tent, and cycled from Nagata to Hiroshima. Somewhere along there, I pieced myself together. I think it’s over, like, almost 2,000 kilometers, so that’s enough time to figure shit out. And I had that feeling of, like, “You know what? Doesn’t matter. I can do anything. I’m okay by myself.” And just keep going.

So I was like, “Well, f*ck being a photographer in America, I’m gonna stay in Japan.” And the easiest way to stay in Japan is to become an English teacher. So I did that. I taught English, this is the scary part, I taught English to elementary school kids and junior high school kids.

I thought you were gonna say the easiest way to stay in Japan is to become a wrestler.

That is the farthest from the truth. But I [taught] for about a year and a half, and decided, “Meh, not for me. I have all this energy still and I don’t feel like I’m being fulfilled. I don’t know what it is, but I’m missing something.” So I quit my job in Saga, Japan, which is like, in the middle of nowhere, down south. And I again cycled from Saga to Tokyo. That time, it took about 14 days. Traveling only by night, because during the day was far too hot in the summer. Anyways, fast-forwarding again. Too slow, Kris, too slow.

So what did you learn on those long bike rides?

I mean, again, it just reinforced that as long as you keep moving, you can get through anything. ‘Cause when you … between Saga and Tokyo, there’s like, so many f*cking mountains, and I was going on a fixed gear bike … Yeah, my legs were pumped. Which is probably why they’re massive now.

But it just further enforced in my mind that no matter how hard it gets, as long as you keep moving, you make distance from that spot that you started from. And I had taken a friend, who had no experience long-distance cycling, along with me. And she made it, you know. She was actually on my other bike. I don’t know why I was collecting bikes, but I was like, “Ha, this one’s nice. I can afford it now.” Whatever.

But I made it to Tokyo, and you know what, in order to stay in Tokyo, I got a job teaching English because it’s an expensive city. I did that for about six months, yeah, almost six months. And I decided again, “You know what? If I’m gonna do anything, I’m gonna really completely quit teaching English.” And I just did. I moved into a share house, living off of my savings. I found a YouTube job for teaching English. So if you see me on an English learning channel, that’s the other thing I did. I think that one got up to 40,000 subscribers.

Our bossman did not know how to monetize that shit, so we had to shut down. I mean, how do you … I don’t know, startups in Japan are kinda hard. Anyways, landing at the same time that I started doing this YouTube stuff, I found wrestling. Funnily enough, on YouTube.

It’s a good place for it.

Yeah. Oh man, YouTube has a pretty big thing in my life, doesn’t it? So my friend mentioned becoming a pro wrestler and I was like, “What? What is that? Let me just investigate this.” I looked up “Joshi puroresu” on YouTube and up came some Stardom videos. One of the first videos I saw was Yoshiko versus Natsuki Taiyo and then after that Kairi Hojo versus Act Yasukawa. And, you know, just all of these people. And I couldn’t help but think, “God, how are they still alive? This is a job? Can I … What?”

So I did further investigation, found the main website, which is all in Japanese. Sent a terribly translated by Google message to the administrator, and it was just like, “How do I become a pro wrestler? My name’s Kris. Thanks.” And they’re like, “Well, first please come to a show and meet with the promoter, and you can learn more there.”

Went to a show, saw it live, was on the edge of my seat the entire time, like, “Please don’t die.” And it was even more decided in my mind that, “God, I wanna do this.” So, when he asked me, “Are you sure you wanna go through with this?” And I was like, “Yes.” “Well, you can start training with us and if or when we think you’re ready, you can take a test. And if you pass that test, then you become a pro wrestler.” And I’m like, “Sweet, let’s do it.” And that began my journey with that.

For six months or so, I was straining with Stardom with Fuka [Kakimoto], who trains all of the green girls. And yeah, six months in, they offered me the test. I said yes. Three days before my test, I got hit by a car door on my way to work.

Oh no.

I know. I know.

Like, somebody opened a car door on you while you were on your bike?

Yeah. The taxi. Didn’t pull over to the side and was just like … I never get mad, but I remembered that day, I was screaming, “I HAVE A TEST.” And he was just like, “I don’t understand English. I’m so sorry.” And I’m trying to calm down, because I know it’s not helping me, but I have to go to the hospital. And like, my face is swollen for a bit, but no major scars.

I had also, actually, gotten hit by a car door at the same place in my face when I was living in San Francisco, so I was just like, “Well.”

So what about your personality just as a human being made your friends be like, “Hey, you should be a pro wrestler?”

I don’t know. I didn’t think about that. ‘Cause I was telling them that I wanted something that was stimulating. Something physically stimulating, too, because I felt so bored just teaching. And a lot of them said to be a personal trainer, or to be a stuntman. And then someone was like, “Yeah, what about pro wrestling?” I think maybe … I don’t know. Maybe it’s ’cause I make a lot of faces and I like to make big noises, so.

How familiar were you with pro wrestling at that point?

Not so much. Like, I kinda had a taste of it with Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair from when I was a little kid. And then quickly shooed away from the TV ’cause I wasn’t really allowed to watch TV. It was a very controlled environment for me. So, all I knew is there was a man in a dress, and I thought that was neat.

So what sent you to Japan? I know you had a bad relationship and you sort of went, but did you have a sort of basic interest in Japan growing up?

In Japan? I did. I liked watching anime. I like watching Japanese movies, and a couple of series. But I never really thought about coming to Japan. It just was always that far-away place where weird shit happened. The only thing that you’re really exposed to online at the time when I was in high school was like, the “Yatta” video with those naked guys and the leaves on their groins and it’s like … You just think everyone’s a cosplayer in Japan, but you land here and no one’s doing that shit and you’re like, “Where are the 40-year-old men in schoolgirl costumes? I don’t understand?”

This is like an actual functioning country with human beings in it.

Yeah. Oh my goodness, it’s so normal. I mean, it’s also pretty weird, but it’s, you know. It’s a mix of both.

I want you to, if you can, if you don’t mind pulling the curtain back. I wanna know how you went from training and being a green girl to becoming a wolf. Like, what was the process? Did you come up with the whole concept? What was that development like?

Well, I think … not I think. How it was is … my test was approaching, that’s what it was. My test was approaching, and what that consists of is however long they decide to test your endurance to bumps and techniques and stuff. Pushups, situps, that’s all in the endurance stuff. And then chain wrestling and then sparring. And then you have to give a speech about why you wanna be a pro wrestler. So I did all of that stuff.

Towards the end where I was sparring with Mayu [Iwatani], I had pinned her. And I let out this … I was on top of her and her legs were up, and I was letting out this celebratory howl for some reason. Like, it literally just came … I was like, “Awooooooo.” And everyone is just staring at me like, “What. Why?” And you know, then I gave my little speech in my shitty Japanese on why I wanna be a pro wrestler. Like, “I wanna be stronger.” Something. And they passed me.

And [Stardom owner] Rossy [Ogawa] was like, “So what’s your wrestling name?” And I’m just like, “Kris Wolf.” It’s the first thing that comes to my head. Rossy was like, “Okay. I get it. The Black Wolf, sure. Whatever.” Yeah, I don’t know where it came from.

So you’ve been living as a wolf for several years now. What was it like to turn on GLOW, turn on a Netflix show and see someone living as a wolf as a pro wrestler?

I loved it. I loved that character so much. I love that wolf. I can relate to some things, I think. I have a really acute sense of smell, which is my downfall sometimes because some humans are really stinky. But I like her portrayal. No, but human scents are great.

So you’ve done a ton of stuff at Stardom. I wanted to ask you about … you know, Io Shirai for a while, it seemed that she might not be staying with Stardom. Now she’s back. Kairi [Hojo] went away. Was there some fear at Stardom when it seemed like, “Oh no, our best and biggest people might be leaving?”

I mean, yeah there was concern for sure, but Rossy’s been doing this for 20-something years. That dude is cool as f*ck. I think he definitely felt tension, but he was just already thinking about how to keep going. Where do you go from here, what stories to pull? And, you know, he does it. So respect to the old man in the house.

Were you like, “Give me the ball?”

“Give it to me.” No, I don’t know. I don’t even know what my place is there or anywhere, really, so.

What’s your general reaction from fans in the U.S. now?

Titillated.

You seem like you’re a big deal now.

That’s exciting. My friend said that some of her friends knew about me, and I thought that was really neat … I mean, like, I get people who enjoy my character and stuff, but I don’t really get the same kind of support [as a lot of big independent wrestlers]. I do have some Japanese fans and stuff. They get excited when I’m in the show. You know, they howl and things, and they shout my name. But as far as the real support, it’s a small community in Japan and then my foreign audience is the one that really, you know, cheers me on and supports me. Sends me boxes to smash. Asks if I’m okay, take care of my head and all that.

How do you take care of your head, as a pro wrestler?

Not very well. I tried. I try, but …

What’s your advice for someone who’s dealt with that kind of stuff? I know you mentioned taking a trip to a foreign land and biking around in the middle of the night and really taking huge steps to take care of yourself. So what do you do, just in general? I mean, I know you get hit in the head for a living, kinda, but how do you keep your brain okay doing that?

It took a while to learn this, but I try not to drink so much? And I mean, I do, but not right after matches, maybe just one drink. But I also try to sleep more. And by more, it’s at least five to six hours instead of four to five hours. I go to little bathhouses, and I try to get massages as often as I can. And I’m trying to do yoga, because I’m stiff as f*ck.

You’ve been established in Japan. Now you’re doing more and more shows over here in the United States. Was there ever any discussion about you being part of the Mae Young classic? Because I know a lot of your contemporaries were in it.

Well, so, I had some friends that suggested that I put in an application beforehand or contact someone and … I’m really bad at organizing my life, and contacting people in general. Basically, I took some steps to apply, and then didn’t really completely follow through. So I mean, I don’t know if I even had a chance, to be honest. But if there is another tournament, I will try harder.

I just so badly need to see you wrestle Nikki Cross.

Oh my God, yes.

Tell us about Kairi Hojo. Or Kairi Sane, whichever one you wanna tell us about.

I love Kairi. She was one of my favorite people. I love f*cking with her, too. I would steal her phone regularly and take selfies of my face. Like, 20 to 30 pictures. So even as she’s deleting them, she would have to see it.

What’s it like to wrestle her?

It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun, actually. She’s really open to trying different things and she wants to lift you up as she wants to lift herself and she wants to have a good story and a good performance, you know. And I think that’s why everyone can enjoy working with her ’cause it’s not just about one person, it’s about the entire experience. And I love that. I love being part of that. So I think when we did have chances to work with each other, which were pretty rare, it was fun, ’cause we played on both of our characters.

Did you ever have a chance to go sailing with her?

No, but every time I was on a boat and she wasn’t, I’d take a picture of myself and send it to her. Be like, “Hey. Miss you.”

So how do you prep promos for Japanese audiences? Because I know generally, English speaking wrestlers in Japan will keep it very simple, very straightforward, but yours being so unique, how do you communicate that?

I don’t prep because all of my promos are for myself and no audience whatsoever. Because the Japanese audience isn’t gonna understand what I’m saying. None of the innuendos are gonna come across and …

That’s why you use the middle finger so much.

Aw, man, I love getting away with it. I mean, sometimes I get told not to use it, so I stop for a while.

And a lot of crotch chopping as well. Like, crotch chopping into the middle finger.

I feel like I am just showing the most beautiful thing in the world and letting light shine from it. My crotch.

Since you came to wrestling late, who’s your favorite when you started ,and who’s your favorite now?

My favorite when I started is Natsuki Taiyo. She’s still brilliant and I love the way she moves. I mean, I still can’t fathom how she does half the things she does and I’m trying to reach that point, but I don’t know how long she’s been wrestling. Like, 12 years? That’s gonna take a while. I don’t know if I’m gonna live that long. Already an old woman. [My favorite wrestler] now … it’s hard because I’ve been watching a lot of old British wrestling.

I just … I’m trying to watch as much as I can because there’s so many different worlds. I’ve been watching more world of sport, some more lucha. I really like Clive Myers. He’s just cool …

That’s a really hip answer.

Hip? That’s me. I’m so hip. Yeah, sorry. I guess I don’t have a favorite yet. I’m still learning a lot, always.

We talked about Nikki Cross. Is there anyone else that you’re just dying to wrestle or would love to wrestle someday that you haven’t?

Heidi Lovelace? Ruby Riott.

Have you wrestled Asuka? Kana?

No, I haven’t.

Do you think you’re ready for her?

I mean, if I wear a helmet, yes.

Since you’ve been in a Joshi ring for a while, and Joshi is known for being very high impact, hard hitting. What’s the most painful thing you’ve ever experienced in the ring?

I don’t know. I don’t remember. I just have flashes in my head of, “Oh, that hurt.” [inaudible 00:30:45] dropkicks when I’m at the rope, that’s probably one of the first times that I felt, like, there’s such pain in my chest and in my gut that I thought, “This is it. This is where my career ends, isn’t it?” Yeah. And I felt it for days afterwards. There was that. Maybe those dropkicks to the head or … what else? So many things. I feel like anything from Nanae [Takahashi] was definitely memorable and painful. Maybe not so much memorable ’cause I can’t have something specific …

I think you’re the first person I’ve ever talked to who knows what the Kairi Hojo elbow looks like from underneath. Is it terrifying?

It’s beautiful. You know, have you ever seen her earlier matches? It’s still beautiful, but it’s unrefined. And then now, it’s just perfect.

You can keep in touch with Kris Wolf on Twitter and on YouTube. You can listen to our full interview with Kris Wolf on McMahonsplaining episode 16 below.

The much-touted women’s wrestling revolution of recent years, specifically the capital-R Women’s Revolution often used as a WWE talking point, has featured historic moment after historic moment since WWE’s women were rechristened “Superstars” after the “Divas” label was retired at last year’s WrestleMania 32.

On Thursday, WWE women made history in a much more wide-reaching sense, as Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks had a Raw Women’s Championship match during a Live Event in Abu Dhabi. In doing so, they became the first women to wrestle in the United Arab Emirates. They still had to wear some special outfits that covered up their bodies in accordance with the UAE’s modesty mandates, so concessions were made … but they still made some pretty damn cool (and pretty inarguably important) history.

This Instagram story shows off some of the video and photos of the match, including great shots of the one-off outfits they wore for the show. (Banks’ outfit, at least, was crafted by her husband, WWE seamster and wrestler Kid Mikaze.) (Click forward for the rest of the images and videos in the IG story.)

WWE also caught up with Banks after the match, where she was very emotional about what she and Bliss had just accomplished.

A very cool moment for both women, I have no doubt. It very clearly meant a whole lot to Banks. WWE women have accomplished a whole lot in the last couple years, but this latest milestone is a big reminder that there are still a whole lot of big moments still to come.

Previously, on Total Divas: Lana and Nia Jax went AT each other, and Brie Bella spent a lot of time gathering breast milk for charity. Also, Miz and Maryse sold their house by accident.

This week: NONE OF THAT MATTERS, BECAUSE RUSEV WITH A PIG.

And now, the most bizarre and wonderful moments from season seven, episode five of Total Divas.

PIGS

In a move that immediately puts Alexa and Nia into the Total Divas Hall of Fame (not that they weren’t already in there through four strong, STRONG episodes), Alexa wants to go to a pig farm and get a pet pig. After some wonderful pig farm footage, including Alexa’s privates being endangered by a spiky fence, she adopts a pig named Larry Steve.

They later bring this pig to Rusev’s Name Day party (more on that shortly), and the name “Larry Steve” tickles Rusev no end. Everything about the pig tickles Rusev. “He makes like pig noises! He’s so small! It’s hilarious!”

E!

Can’t get enough of Rusev with a damn pig. As you’d expect.

E!

PERFECT.

Horses Are Just Like Wrestling

The Bellas are really missing being in a WWE ring, so they think maybe they’ll get their competition fix by doing a bunch of different activities. They try skateboarding, with predictably disastrous results, and then go with a big group to the race track to watch the horsies. JJ’s weird fascination with red suits make a return here, and the JJ stuff has really been missing since Total Bellas wrapped up its second season. Just kidding; JJ can go pound sand.

Being at the race track really ramps up the Bellas homesickness for WWE, because of … the crowd? Big beefy animals? Who can say. Brie is so bitten by the wrestling bug that she goes to train with Nia under the watchful eyes of Bryan and Nikki.

Brie is determined to make her comeback as soon as humanly possible, and she and Nikki celebrate by toasting hilariously enormous wine glasses and Nikki saying that this will be like the “Chinese dictionary” (she means “calendar”) and this will be the Year of the Bella. This is the best show, everyone. AIN’T NEVER LOST.

Jim Neidhart Doesn’t Know Where Grease Goes

E!

Nattie, she reminds us, has bought a house for her parents. She first arrives to their home to find the place smells like cigarettes, the sink is clogged because Jim Neidhart poured bacon grease down the drain (“WHERE ELSE AM I SPOSTA PUT IT?:), and cannabis oil is part of big Jim’s diet. Nattie pauses mid-drain-unclog to call out the Anvil’s footwear. “And what kind of shoes are those?”

E!

Later, Natalya tells her parents they can’t keep their new German Shepherd, whom they love. Jim keeps leaving cigarettes in the mailbox and all sorts of other bizarre occurrences, and is fed up all to hell with the way they’re treating the house. In a stunning reversal, Nattie’s parents present HER with a tenant/landlord agreement they want her to sign. Nattie is agog at the audacity … until she actually reads it, and realizes all of it is perfectly sound and maybe she should treat her parents like human beings from time to time. I mean, I guess that’s one approach.

Nattie Squeals On Lana

E!

Nattie rolls up on Rusev in catering and hunkers down, and this is when we learn a RUSEV FUN FACT: Rusev likes leopards, he just doesn’t like leopard print. Nattie says hi and then immediately rats on Lana for arguing with the others on last week’s episode, and saying maybe Nattie would be farther along in her career if she learned out to cut a promo. Rusev laughs heartily at what Lana said to her, because … I mean, come on. Nattie just keeps repeating “total bitch,” and Rusev just calmly nods, and I’m not about to unpack ANY of that. Natalya also spoils Lana’s Name Day surprise party, because Nattie doesn’t wish happiness for anyone, ever.

Later, when Lana asks Rusev what he wants for Name Day (which is a European tradition where everyone with the same name celebrates on the same day), he responds, “Use your eggs and create a new human life.” He continues to harp on wanting a human child throughout, and treats the tiny pig like a child and showers more attention on the pig than on Lana at the party, until finally Lana says she doesn’t want kids right now. Rusev then Rusevs thusly:

They come to an understanding, of course, and agree that having kids at 40 is the new “have kids any younger than 40.” These millennials, I tell ya.

Nia Tries To Foster Cannibalism

E!

Finally, regardless of how produced it was, I have to give at least a passing mention to Nia Jax trying to feed a pig bacon. Luckily, her attempts to befoul everything and everyone were unsuccessful, so better luck next time, you WONDERFUL VILLAIN.

That’ll do it this week! Join us next week, when the Divs go to Cabo, and maybe Rusev will finally make good on his threats and cook naked for us.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with Jimmy Fallon’s version of The Tonight Show — have you seen this? Have you heard about this? — but he likes to play games with all his famous friends who stop by. It may not be the best source for hard-hitting interviews, but if you wanted to see Noam Chomsky or whoever smash an egg on their head, Jimbo’s got you covered.

Fallon’s games tend to work best when his guests are up for anything, and even if “up for anything” weren’t a euphemism for wieners, that would still describe John Cena.

On Wednesday, Cena’s latest stop on his Ferdinand press tour gave him a break from crying in England, as he was just called upon to — you’ll never believe this — play some games!

It began with “Random Object Jingles,” which is exactly what it sounds like. Cena did some sweet, soulful singing, and in true Cena fashion, made a penis joke.

Not bad, although nearly every jingle sounded like Gil and George singing “Sweet Rosalie” in Oh, Hello.

And then it was time for “Mad Lib Theater.” Christmas edition! Shout-out to Total Divas star Winston the French bulldog. I leave it to you to decide whether “ballpark hot dog” is another classic Cena penis joke. (It a billion percent is.)

As is usually the case, actually writing down the words out of context is the funniest part, especially because we got to witness John Cena explaining to Jimmy Fallon what the perineum is. Cena covered the dong, anus, and taint. Who says he isn’t versatile? Well done all around, everyone. And sweet sweaters.

If you aren’t already familiar slash in love with Kris Wolf, I’ll let the bio from her personal site explain who she is:

Hi! My name is Kris and yes, I am a wolf trapped in a human’s body. I live in Tokyo and roam the streets looking for meat. When I’m not eating meat, I recently started wrestling for Stardom, a joshi-pro wrestling group located in Tokyo.

In other words, if you don’t love Kris Wolf, get your shit together and start loving Kris Wolf. We had a chance to talk to her about being a wolf, her unconventional path to becoming a joshi star, getting hit by car doors at the worst possible time and keeping your brain okay. She’s the best, even though I’m 99% sure she wanted to eat us the entire time.

Make sure you send your thoughts and questions to withspandexpodcast@uproxx.com, because we’ll read the best emails on the show, and we have a lot of cool giveaways to give away.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/kris-wolf-mcmahonsplaining-with-spandex-podcast/feed/0kris-wolf-grid-uproxx.jpgWe Now Know When The Rock Is Getting His Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Famehttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/the-rock-dwayne-johnson-walk-of-fame-star/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/the-rock-dwayne-johnson-walk-of-fame-star/#commentsWed, 06 Dec 2017 14:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400973144

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The Rock has pretty much done it all. That’s hardly an exaggeration. Dwayne Johnson has been the biggest pro wrestling star in the world, the highest-paid actor alive, and the world’s sexiest man. He’s also probably going to be the President of the United States someday … or at the very least, people are never going to shut up about the fact that he SHOULD be.

He might also hold the title of BUSIEST man alive. He’s currently producing a bunch of projects, working on Ballers, promoting Jumanji, feuding with his Fast and Furious co-stars, and IMDb says he currently has 18 films in various stages of development or production. Eighteen. And somewhere in there, he’s still finding time to get completely ethered by apathetic children.

According to Variety, Johnson’s star will be unveiled in a ceremony on Dec. 13, conveniently exactly one week before Jumanji opens.

Johnson will finally join his old boss Vince McMahon on the Walk of Fame, although we’re guessing that unlike McMahon, his star won’t be hilariously close to Kermit the Frog’s star. Somewhat surprisingly (or not at all surprisingly, depending upon your worldview), McMahon and Johnson will be the ONLY two honorees on the Walk of Fame to be involved with pro wrestling (if you don’t count guest stars like Cyndi Lauper). Hulk Hogan doesn’t have a star on the Walk of Fame. Ric Flair doesn’t, either. Nor do Steve Austin, Andre The Giant, Gorgeous George, Jesse Ventura … not even Andy Kaufman. Just Rock and McMahon, a class of two.

There you go, all other wrestlers: all you have to do to get a star on the Walk of Fame is to transition into being the biggest movie star in the world. Piece of cake.

Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free WWE Smackdown Live results for December 5, 2017. The show featured a match between Sami Zayn and Randy Orton, a women’s lumberjack match, and some more pieces put in place for the upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view.

Be back here tomorrow for the full Best and Worst of Smackdown column.

WWE Smackdown Live results:

— The show opened with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens bragging about outsmarting Shane McMahon last week. While Zayn was gloating on the ramp, Randy Orton hit Owens with an RKO out of nowhere. Shane McMahon denied having a personal agenda against Zayn and Owens, and put them in a tag team match at Clash of Champions against Orton and a partner of his choosing, and put Zayn in a match against Orton in the main event, with Owens handcuffed to the ring ropes.

1. Rusev and Aiden English defeated The New Day. Rusev knocked Kofi Kingston off the ropes when Kofi attempted a springboard, then hit a kick to the back of the head and got the pin.

2. The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Adam James and Josh Carr. The Bludgeon Brothers hit their finisher and got the pin.

3. Bobby Roode defeated Baron Corbin. Dolph Ziggler sat in on commentary for this non-title match. Ziggler went for a “closer look” at the match, and hit a Zig Zag on Roode to give him the disqualification victory. After the bell, Ziggler hit a Zig Zag on Corbin as well.

4. Charlotte Flair defeated Tamina Snuka. This was a non-title match. Carmella, Lana, and Natalya were at ringside. Charlotte forced Tamina to tap out with the Figure Eight.

— After the match, the Riott Squad came to ringside to taunt the other women. Tamina and Sarah Logan got into a pull-apart brawl.

5. Randy Orton defeated Sami Zayn. Kevin Owens was handcuffed to the bottom rope during this match, but managed to break them. Orton avoided a Helluva Kick and rolled up Zayn for the pin.

— After the match, Owens and Zayn attacked Orton until Shinsuke Nakamura made the save. They hit their finishers on Zayn and Owens and celebrated. Backstage, Shane McMahon said he’s just getting started punishing Zayn and Owens, because he will be the guest referee for the tag match at Clash of Champions, and if Zayn and Owens lose the match, they’ll be fired.

During an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (which is like Good Morning America, but blander), Cena’s promotion of Ferdinand segued into the hosts talking about his proposal to Nikki Bella at WrestleMania 33. While watching a clip of the proposal, Cena started getting glassy-eyed, and Piers Morgan expressed surprise about the Champ getting emotional.

“It’s the best moment of my life, and I couldn’t think of a better place to do it. The WWE has been my family for the past 15 years … we have such a strong connection to our audience. The crazy thing about that moment was that I was in a match, before that, and if you watch the match back, the audience hated me. But it’s such a show of respect that once the performance was over, they realize that this is a moment we are both going to remember for all of our lives.”

When asked what would have happened had Nikki turned him down, Cena was quick to admit that he sort of put her in a situation where she couldn’t really say no. But it’s not like there was any danger of that happening, as those of us who have watched Total Divas from its very first scene will happily tell you.

These two lovebirds really just put a song in your heart. Love is real, everyone.

Well, we all knew it was coming. We just maybe didn’t expect things to be quite so fully formed right out of the gate.

Last week, Matt Hardy began doing some extremely overt and prolonged “DELETE” gestures following a loss to Bray Wyatt, which was the closest he’d been to his #BROKEN character on WWE television since returning at WrestleMania. Shortly after that segment, word got out that Impact Wrestling had more or less abandoned its claim to the trademark on the Broken Universe characters, and it was pretty much a done deal. This was paired with a report that WWE would be calling him “WOKEN” Matt Hardy, but it would essentially be the same character.

Well, Matt is Woken or Broken or whatever, and his new persona is aimed fully at Bray Wyatt, a nemesis that many WWE fans would agree is OBSOLETE and in need of DELETION. During a trademark spooky Bray Wyatt promo video, the feed was interrupted by Woken Matt, who was 100 percent in #BROKEN mode, with accent, robe, laugh, and silly faces.

It remains to be seen just how much time and freedom WWE will give to Matt; whether he’ll be able to film his own vignettes at his Hardy compound, include Reby, Vanguard-1, King Maxel, Señor Benjamin, and the rest, or even get any vignettes at all that don’t look like normal WWE backstage stuff. I sincerely hope he can do everything he wants to do … and more.

But this is an EXTRAORDINARY start. It honestly reminds me quite a bit of the very, very beginnings of the Broken character, when Matt uploaded a video of him making faces for several minutes. Ah, to return to those halcyon days. Straight up: I’m just happy to have that laugh back. DELIGHTFUL!

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/broken-matt-hardy-wwe-raw-debut-promo/feed/20Woken-Matt-Hardy.jpgTyler Breeze Has A Unique Take On Being ‘Wasted’ On The WWE Main Rosterhttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/tyler-breeze-wwe-wasted-main-roster/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/tyler-breeze-wwe-wasted-main-roster/#commentsMon, 04 Dec 2017 18:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400967191

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It’s no secret that every last damn person here at With Spandex is a massive fan of Tyler Breeze. That’s partly said up top in this post as a caveat, and partly to remind you that Tyler Breeze is the frigging best, always. We’ve been staunch proponents of him since his days of losing every high-profile match in NXT, and we’re ride or die for him during his days of … uh … lose every match period, pretty much, as part of the Fashion Police (or Breezango, if you’re nasty) with Fandango.

But matches aren’t where Breezango gets the majority of their television time, of course. Pretty much every week on Smackdown, Breezy and Dango get a few minutes to showcase their comedic and acting chops in the always-anticipated “Fashion Files” vignettes. It’s some of the best serialized television that exists today. (Especially with that dud of a season of The Americans that dropped this year.)

Breeze, of course, is getting fewer of those high-profile matches that he was receiving in NXT, but he’s making a whole lot more money, selling a whole lot more merch, and working a whole lot more than he did down in Winter Park. Still; there are a lot of fans who would like to see WWE utilize Breeze “better,” or at least more often. When a fan suggested just that on Twitter recently, Breezy pointed out that it’s impossible to utilize everyone all the time, and he’ll take the last several months of “Fashion Files” consistently being featured than the occasional television main event.

@MmmGorgeous I'm watching SDL and it's So frustrating seeing you being wasted by WWE. Yes money might be great. But watching you in NXT to now. It's a shame that a guy like you is in a Pointless tag team and not Main eventing Solo and winning solo Championships.

So Let’s say I’m main eventing the 2 hr show. Who’s being “wasted” then? Shin? Dillinger? Aj? Roode? Because not everyone can be used every week… unless you’re featured in something like fashion files which has been featured now for 6 months + Very proud of that https://t.co/O6vKLIguWw

He’s not wrong! There are a whole lot of wrestlers inside WWE who would probably kill to have the sort of regular exposure, character development, and creative freedom that Fandango are afforded in their vignettes, which owe a lot more to “The JBL and Cole” show than they do the rest of WWE’s scripted content.

Despite Breeze’s well-thought-out answer, the conversation devolved into fans claiming yeah, sure, maybe you’re happy with your role right now, but WWE is “creatively” worse than it’s been in years. Breeze had a pretty damn good response to that, too.

Talent is amazing right now, yourself included. Fashion files are one of the only reasons I watch smackdown but when creative is as bad it currently is it becomes hard to watch as a fan. With the roster available the product should be incredible, unfortunately it's not.

There’s been matches this year that have had me wrapped up in it watching backstage and had people in full arenas standing on their feet. If to u that’s “shitty” than there is no pleasing you so respectfully You choose to be unhappy and I’m sorry to hear that https://t.co/aBa3ALQiAN

I understand fans’ frustrations at the endless “same-ness” of the vast majority of WWE television. I understand pushback against overly-scripted promos, lack of character development, poor motivations or explanation of Superstars’ actions, and a whole host of other issues. But creativity is not really an issue, ESPECIALLY as it pertains to Tyler Breeze.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has never had higher visibility among international fans than it does right now. The company is firing on all cylinders, has created a tremendous grassroots following in North America, and on the strength of the Bullet Club and some six-star matches, is gaining acclaim and selling a butt-ton of merchandise online and in Hot Topics all around the world.

Even if it weren’t for the Bullet Club and the Elite’s stunts and making money off of some bizarre setbacks, New Japan would be gaining momentum among American fans. Their in-ring product is consistently spectacular, and the Young Bucks’ “Being the Elite” webseries keeps fans entertained and engaged on a weekly basis.

To celebrate Wrestle Kingdom 12, which will take place in Tokyo on January 4 and will be broadcast live on New Japan World, AXS TV (the home of New Japan’s weekly English-language broadcast) will be presenting the event as an English-language special two days later. It will comprise most of the event and will be three hours long. And they’ll also be airing a New Japan marathon leading up to it, to get you as pumped as possible.

AXS TV also aired part of New Japan’s wildly popular Long Beach shows this past summer. And while the live English commentary was something of a polarizing topic among fans, pretty much everyone was grateful there was another way to watch the show other than New Japan World. International wrestling on your television? Almost always a good thing.

The full press release for AXS TV’s plans, including the marathon leading up to the broadcast:

As the exclusive U.S. television home for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), AXS TV will premiere the promotion’s biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 12, in a three-hour special Saturday, Jan. 6 at 8pE/5pP. AXS TV FIGHTS CEO Andrew Simon made the announcement that the Wrestle Kingdom 12 national television broadcast marks the fastest turnaround time for the spectacular airing just two days after the event takes place at the Tokyo Dome. AXS TV’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 special will showcase the event’s three headlining championship matches: IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. G1 CLIMAX 27 Tournament Champion Tetsuya Naito, and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White.

“While NJPW has delivered some of the greatest matches in wrestling history over the past year, we’ve seen viewership growth on AXS TV thanks to New Japan’s expansion in the U.S. and our commitment to air matches closer to when they take place,” said Simon. “With Wrestle Kingdom as their marquee annual event, we thank NJPW and TV Asahi for their support and are proud to kick off 2018 with this historic primetime Saturday night special featuring the dream match-up of Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho.”

AXS TV will continue its coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 12 following the special over five episodes Friday nights starting Jan. 12 at 8pE/5pP on the network’s award-winning weekly series, including the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship match between RPG 3K (Sho & Yoh) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), the four-way IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship bout featuring Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi, and the ROH World Title Match between Cody and Kota Ibushi. The championship matches featuring Tanahashi vs. White, Omega vs. Jericho and Okada vs. Naito will also have an encore airing during this time.

Leading up to the Wrestle Kingdom 12 special on Jan. 6, AXS TV will air an eight-hour marathon of NJPW starting at 12pE/9aP. Episodes in the marathon will feature matches that set up the main card at Wrestle Kingdom, including Omega winning the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title versus Tomohiro Ishii at the G1 Special in USA; Omega vs. Naito in the G1 CLIMAX 27 Tournament Finals; Omega’s first U.S. Heavyweight Title defense at Destruction in Kobe; an encore of the three-hour King of Pro-Wrestling special headlined by Okada vs. EVIL; and two episodes from Power Struggle headlined by Omega vs. Beretta featuring a special appearance by Jericho.

And the Wrestle Kingdom 12 card, as it currently stands, with more matches to be added later:

Without even knowing the full card yet … uh, yeah. This is going to be a good one, people.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/njpw-wrestle-kingdom-12-axs-tv-special/feed/4Tetsuya-Naito-IWGP.jpgThese Are The Matches Of The Year For 2017, According To WWE Networkhttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-network-match-of-the-year-collection-2017/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-network-match-of-the-year-collection-2017/#commentsMon, 04 Dec 2017 16:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400967200

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It might be hard to believe, but it’s almost that time already. Time to start compiling your lists, rolling up your sleeves and getting ready to fight on the internet about what was the Match of the Year in 2017. It’s been a banner year for pro wrestling both inside and outside of WWE. The first-ever six-star matches were awarded over in New Japan, Keith Lee and Matt Riddle blew people’s minds in pretty much every country in the world. Sami Callihan had one billion matches.

Even in WWE, it’s not like wrestlers were twiddling their thumbs. New Day and the Usos stole the show every time they went out there. John Cena won his 16th world championship. AJ Styles made miracles happen any time he was in the ring. Undertaker had his last match. People … Bray Wyatt was WWE Champion this year. Not for nearly as long as Jinder Mahal was. But still!

As they have done for the past couple of years, WWE Network has put together its own list of 2017 Matches of the Year (at least, up through October), and has released said matches as part of a new collection over on the Network, available beginning on Monday (The collections, for those who haven’t taken advantage, just put one match up after another in one handy binge-watch playlist. It’s very convenient!)

Here’s the list of matches in the collection, with links to With Spandex’s write-ups of the corresponding shows (where available).

When you see this stuff all laid out, it serves to remind even the most cynical of us that oh yeah, there was a whole lot of awesome-ass pro wrestling this year. AGAIN.

Was there anything they whiffed on? It seems like there hasn’t been a consensus best WWE match this year like there has been in years past, but I could be wrong. (It’s probably Bate vs. Dunne.) Let us know what YOUR WWE Match of the Year is in the comments below.

So first and foremost, I need to preface this post by giving you advance notice that there may be some NXT spoilers (real ones) coming up in a few paragraphs, so if you’re the type of person who likes to avoid NXT spoilers (as I was, before it became my job to read NXT spoilers), you might just want to close out this browser tab and check out something else. Might I recommend the Best and Worst of NWA Word Championship Wrestling?

Okay, here come the spoilers!

The most recent NXT tapings at Full Sail were held on Wednesday, and they appear to take weekly NXT television up through the end of the year. (This of course includes the episode of NXT that is apparently going to be broadcast on USA Network during WWE Week.) At those tapings (hey; spoiler warning), there were four qualifiers for a Fatal 4-Way, which then determined the No. 1 contender to the NXT Championship, and Andrade “Cien” Almas’ opponent at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.

That’s all well and good, of course. NXT tends to better than your average promotion at determining No. 1 contenders. u But as much as WWE tends to spoil its own tapings when there is major news or title changes or debuts or whatever that they know are going to get out and make the rounds anyway, it looks like the company may begin attempting to obfuscate those spoilers … at least in part.

WWE released this video with William Regal to hype what’s coming up on the next weeks of NXT television — namely, the participants in those four qualifiers.

Now here’s where we get to the tricky part. (Here’s also where the REAL spoilers come in.) One of the four matches Regal lists as a qualifier is Kassius Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream. But that’s not the match that was taped in Full Sail; Ohno wrestled Johnny Gargano, who then went on to actually win the Fatal 4-Way.

It’s entirely possible that something has happened to Gargano, and that they will need to re-tape the Ohno qualifier and the 4-Way at the next set of tapings. But that’s almost certainly not what’s happening. What’s probably happening is that Dream vs. Ohno is in fact the scheduled match in storyline, but that something will happen backstage or in a vignette that will take Dream out of the running, and Gargano will enter as a replacement.

Regardless of what’s actually going on here (it’s definitely the second option I laid out up there), it absolutely builds intrigue and creates a disconnect between what people have read in the spoilers and what WWE is telling is is going to happen. It’s a really creative and very good tactic, and I know that I’m certainly intrigued by what they’ve got cooked up for us.

This is a great way to try to play with people’s heads (in a business sense) and cast some doubt about what people have read in the spoilers. It might just result in more people talking about and watching NXT than usual. Heck, we’re talking about it right now! Well played, WWE.

Previously, on Total Divas: Brie and Nikki took a trip, Maryse tried to have Carmella and Big Cass have an elaborate sleepover, and Naomi and Lana both went into business for themselves.

The show took Thanksgiving off, but now we’re right back at it. I hope there are no misunderstandings this week!

Here we go, unpacking the most outlandish moments from season 7, episode 4 of Total Divas.

Milking It

Brie and Bryan discover that you can donate breast milk to mothers in need. Brie meets with a couple who have had twins and can’t produce enough breast milk, and that seals the deal. Brie has to collect 100 ounces of breast milk before the non-profit will come and pick it up, so she gets on an even more severe pumping schedule than she was already doing.

Our BELLA MOMENT OF THE WEEK comes when Brie and Nikki are getting their makeup done before Comic Con, and Nikki is commenting on the weirdness of Brie’s breast pump. She says it looks like “A cow’s uterus,” because she couldn’t think of the word for “udder.”

Brie ultimately does not produce 100 ounces, but she still did her best! Give what you can, people. Give what you can.

Chateau MarMiz Has Some Security Issues

We find out (I believe this is the first time this is mentioned) that Maryse’s mother lives with her and the Miz in Los Angeles. There are some security concerns at their home, because Chateau MarMiz has been broken into three times in five years. That seems bad! Maryse’s mother was even home the last time there was a break-in, so they try to figure out some options.

The first, and most sensible option, is to take Maryse’s 60-year-old mother to a shooting range. She can’t really … what’s the word … “hit the target” while “firing a gun,” and in fact gets so winded shooting a weapon that she has to go lay down in the back seat of Miz’s Jeep. So that’s one option down the tubes, even though Maryse’s mother insists a 30-year-old version of her could have easily fended off three male attackers. I believe her!

Well I Guess Maybe Just Sell The House

So! In response to Maryse and her mother feeling unsafe, Maryse does the most rational thing possible: puts Chateau MarMiz on the market without telling Miz about it. Forbes and other outlets sniff out the listing and start running news posts about their house being for sale, which leads to a pretty awkward exchange between the couple backstage at a WWE event.

Miz is pretty upset that she would do this, especially without consulting him first, and refuses to leave his house because of some burglars. But Maryse decides to leave the listing up with a ridiculous asking price. Later in the episode, their realtor calls, and there’s a full-price cash offer on the home. Miz is stunned. He thinks about it for a second, then just responds with “This is an incredible profit. F*ck this place. See ya bye! F*ck this place. I’ll see you in Vegas!”

E!

I love these incredible goobers.

Lana Has Some Questions

E!

In a bit of a throwback angle, Lana pesters Natalya incessantly. Lana learns that she will be in a Fatal 5-Way No. 1 contender match at the next pay-per-view, so she starts brainstorming a million ways to try and make everything look great in the match. But of course, she doesn’t have a LOT of experience, so she starts texting Natalya all through a redeye flight, and then all day as she travels to meet up with the other women before the Mae Young Classic tapings in Florida.

Natalya can’t deal with this, because Natalya has never been able to deal with Lana, ever, despite her repeated insistence that she’s the veteran locker room leader and that everyone can come to her for advice. Still; boundaries, people.

Also, I just really get a kick out of Lana texting to ask whether a spear will look better than a suplex. These are real, work-related questions!

Nia Jax Will Not Suffer The Fools

E!

It is legitimately a travesty that there is no official WWE video of the screaming argument Nia and Lana get into at Carmella’s house, because it is [kisses fingers like Italian chef]. When Nattie delivers some [John Cena voice] passive aggression about how often Lana is texting her, Lana goes into exasperated “Well I’m sorry I want to do a good job” mode. Then Lana says everyone needs to take an acting class because only her and Alexa Bliss can cut decent promos.

Jax lays into Lana, saying that Lana is the only person who’s had months to cut promos in front of tens of thousands of people, and then they just start yelling at each other, saying cusses and everything. Lana calls Jax lazy and plays full martyr, saying it’s up to them to get better or they’re never going to surpass John Cena unless they’re dynamite both in the ring and on the mic. After Jax is done yelling, she resorts to enormous eye rolls.

Carmella points out that this whole thing is stupid. It’s such a good scene and I’m so sad it isn’t just uploaded to one of WWE’s YouTube accounts. They uploaded Nia, Alexa, and Natalya talking about the fight after the MYC, but whoooo caaaaaares.

That’s it for this week! See you next week, when maybe Nia just hauls off and slugs Lana.

With the seventh season of Total Divas now in full swing, we’re getting pretty familiar with all the new players this time around. One of the new cast members this year is Carmella, whose significant other, Big Cass, is also along for the ride. Carmella has been known to WWE fans since 2014, when she made her debut as a hairdresser friend of Cass and Enzo Amore. She was called up to Smackdown in 2016 and has been kicking butt ever since.

We recently got a chance to talk to the reigning Miss Money in the Bank about being on a reality show, being a second generation Superstar, and a whole lot more.

WITH SPANDEX: Hi, Carmella. How you doin’?

Carmella: I’m doing fabulous. Thank you. How about yourself?

I’m good, thank you. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. So, Total Divas, obviously the best show in the history of mankind, my favorite show —

Preach.

I’m really happy that you’re on there now. I’m happy about all the new cast members. What has the transition been like? Has it been hard to adapt to now being on this show in addition to WWE television?

So basically, having no time I guess to go home, or to myself. This job that we already have is so time consuming. We’re always on the road. And then when we’re shooting Total Divas, we’re filming on our off days, which we only get about two days, or two and a half to three days off. So, gosh, it was an adjustment. But having the girls to film with and just kind of rely on, and knowing that okay, they’ve done this before … And it’s doable, don’t get me wrong. But it was just a lot at first. So I was like, “Whoa, what am I doing right now?”

What are you enjoying the most about being on Total Divas?

I think it’s just a great opportunity for us women to keep promoting this women’s revolution. And this is such an amazing time for women in WWE, so to be able to share that and share our experiences with the Total Divas and E! audience is amazing. And you know, the first two episodes show the Money in the Bank ladder match, and for them to get an idea of just how dangerous this match was, and how high risk it was, and for the women to be involved in something like this for the first time ever, it’s really cool.

I feel very lucky and blessed because now, I mean, I made history twice with winning this match and being the first-ever Miss Money in the Bank. And now, it’s out there forever. Now, it’s documented. It is a part of history. And I think it’s really cool that the audience got to see that.

In the first episode of Total Divas this season, we introduced Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax, and then there was this big tease that your introduction would be when you won the Money in the Bank. I was surprised that we didn’t really get into all of the backlash about James Ellsworth helping you.

I know. You know what, I guess it’s only an hour-long show. So it’s hard to get everything in that episode and in each episode. And I don’t know if they maybe would necessarily, if the E! audience, if it would translate, as far as like what an uproar it caused. So I’m not quite sure why that that wasn’t in there. But at the end of the day, it was all about Carmella. And that’s all they need to know.

But what was that experience like for you to go through this historical match and then be met with that for an entire week before the second Money in the Bank Ladder Match?

Gosh, the fans always have something to say. They’re never happy with anything. I could’ve won it the way I won it the second time the first time, and I feel like they still would’ve been upset with it. So, I personally loved it. I loved the controversy. I never like to do anything little. Everything I do, I need it to be big and above and beyond. And it caused such a controversy and such a stir. And it had people talking, and at the end of the day, that’s all we can ask for; people are talking about the pay-per-view, they’re talking about the match. I loved every minute of it.

And then you and the other women got to beat up James Ellsworth every night in Europe.

Exactly. And you know if it wasn’t for that, who knows? We [were] having so much fun in Europe, and the crowd is loving every single night. He would come out and they hated him, along with our girls. So it’s been a lot of fun.

What was your personal reaction to Becky Lynch and James finally get to have a match together?

Well, I thought it was a long time coming. I thought it was gonna happen after the Ladder Match. But sometimes things don’t go as we planned. So, it was cool. I mean, you never get to see a girl wrestle a guy. So it was really cool. And I think this opportunity for Becky was awesome. She has obviously a lot of pent-up anger with him. And I thought it was just a really entertaining segment.

How is Cass reacting to being part of Total Divas?

Well, of course it’s an adjustment. It is for him. It was for me. You’ll get to see our relationship on TV, and it’s definitely eye opening. Nothing about it is ever easy, but he was fine with it. He was very supportive.

Now, you’re actually a second-generation WWE Superstar. Your father was Paul Van Dale, who worked as enhancement talent in the 1980s and 1990s. Do you feel like that’s something that you would like to have emphasized more often on television?

You know, I don’t really mind either way. I think it’s something once people realize that about me, they hear that and they thought, “Oh, wow. I never knew that Carmella was a second generation.” But at the same time, I don’t want that to be my story. I don’t want people to look at me like, “Oh, well she’s doing this because she’s a second generation.” I want people to know that I’m getting where I’m going or how I’m getting there, by myself, through my hard work and nothing more. So, that’s kind of my outlook on it.

What was it like to grow up in that environment with your dad working as a wrestler?

So it was really cool. I must say I was the coolest girl in third grade, because I was bringing wrestling magazines with my dad [in them]. Of course, he’s always the one laying down getting pinned. But I thought … I would always be like, “Oh, that actually is my dad right here. This is Papa Shango.” I would just go through showing everyone that my dad had wrestled.

And I grew up watching it. I was obsessed with Miss Elizabeth when I was a little girl. So, to even be where I’m at right now in my career, it’s something that never, I don’t forget and don’t take for granted, because I never thought I could be a wrestler, ever. Like I said, growing up watching it, it was just something that I watched on TV, and my dad did it. But I didn’t think women could actually do it, never mind be in this women’s revolution, and make history myself with being the first-ever Miss Money in the Bank. So, I do feel so lucky and I don’t take anything for granted.

Did you get to meet any of the Superstars of the time backstage when your dad was a wrestler and you were a kid?

I didn’t. So I don’t really have any stories like that. The only stories that I kind of have are my dad body slamming my sister and I on our beds when we were kids, and my friends would come over, and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. It is just like growing up, that’s just how things went. And it’s just so funny now to myself being involved in this industry. It’s very surreal. And I feel very lucky, ’cause I can share it with my dad. It’s a bond that most people don’t get. So I’m very lucky.

I gotta ask you about your new gear. You’ve had your standard Carmella gear for so long, since NXT, since you started. Now you’ve got the new gear. I love the new gear. But I just wanna know, what was the thought process behind that and your feelings about it?

So for me … Thank you by the way. I love the new gear as well. I just felt like I wanted to switch things up. I feel like, first of all, fashion is always changing. I don’t even know the word I’m looking for. But it’s always changing. So, I wanted to just do something a little different. And I was just doing that for SummerSlam, to be honest. I just wanted to wear … I didn’t know if I would be cashing in or if I wouldn’t be cashing in. I just know I wanted to look different.

And I got the inspiration from this Beyonce outfit that she had. And I was like, “Oh, I’m gonna do this.” And then, I was gonna go back to wearing my other gear, but everyone here loved it. And they said, “No, you have to keep it.” So, that’s the story behind that. Now I’m wearing a one-piece. And I don’t have to do abs every day anymore.

What was the development like for the whole James Ellsworth on a leash situation?

Well, I mean I feel like things in the WWE are always changing. They’re always growing. And [eventually], maybe James got sick of it, and now he got his butt kicked by Becky Lynch. And I fully supported that.

Now, you came up from NXT and maybe people weren’t expecting you to come to the main roster as soon as you did. And when you did, you were taken away from Enzo and Cass, and they also haven’t acknowledged your friendship with Bayley, which was a big part of the storyline in NXT. How long do you feel like it took for you to find your legs on the main roster?

Yeah, I mean being on Smackdown was a whole different ballgame than being in NXT. Everything that I did in NXT was just washed away once I came up here. So, being a manager for most of my career, I didn’t really even have that many matches under my belt. I had maybe 10 on TV, if that. I don’t even think I had 10. So I don’t think people even realized that.

So, being the last draft pick and then debuting on the main roster, I feel like people had no expectations, and I think that that’s even the best way to go about it. If they did have expectations, they would’ve been there saying, “Oh, Carmella is terrible. She’s the last draft pick. She can’t do this, that or whatever.”

And I love that. I want to be underestimated. I want people to think nothing of me, and then let me prove them wrong. Because, look at me now. I’m the two time Miss Money in the Bank, making history, and it’s all just a matter of time. I think you put in the work, you put in the effort. I know that I have something to offer this division. And finally, I feel like things are starting to blossom for me. I can only imagine with the future holds.

I’m super motivated. I like when people tell me I can’t do something, and I’m gonna show you, yes I can. I can do it even better than you would ever dream of. I haven’t even been wrestling for four years. So, to be where I’m at, I think that’s pretty damn good.

I wholeheartedly agree. Now, we’ve had the Money in the Bank. We’ve had the first women’s ladder match. We’ve had an intergender match for the first time in forever. First women’s Hell in a Cell match. And I know that everyone in the women’s division is constantly talking about how they want to main event WrestleMania. But what’s the next first that you wanna be a part of, first women’s Royal Rumble match, or what?

I wanna be the first Money in the Bank holder for the women to cash in and become Smackdown Women’s Champion. I will be the first. And again, I’ll be making history. So for me, that’s what I want to do.

Do you happen to know whether the dog is okay that got the hair remover dumped on it?

Yes. The dog is perfectly fine. It’s so funny, ’cause people ask me that still to this day, and gosh, that was so long ago. But, the dog is fine. And what people I think don’t realize is that there were two dogs, one that had his hair, and then the second one had his hair cut. So, it was actually two dogs, which is really funny. But that’s so funny you asked me that.

That’s television magic for you.

Totally. And it’s crazy that that was even how I debuted on NXT. It’s so funny.

Let me ask you about that. You’re pretty much a product of the Performance Center, and there have been so many at this point. Carmella is a little bit different from your own personal background. What was the development like of the Carmella character when you were down there?

So for me, when I first got my name, Carmella, I wanted the name Carmella, ’cause I wanted to do an Italian mafia princess type character. And I always credit Byron Saxton for this, because I went to him after I got my name. And I went and got a fur jacket at this consignment store. And I went and I told him, “I have this vision of this Italian princess character.” And he all the sudden was sitting there talking and all the sudden he’d start looking at his fingers, and he’s chewing gum, and he’s talking like, “Oh Carmella, what, you think I’m like a princess or something?”

And I’m like, “Yes, this is exactly what I wanted to do.” And so we kind of like had this collaborative effort. But to be honest, it’s exactly what I’m still doing now. Of course, I’ve changed a little bit along the way. But, I’m still a princess. I still have this Italian backstory, which is me in real life as well. And it’s just really cool, because it was the first character I came up with, and it’s who I am now. So I feel very lucky for that.

What’s the next piece of Carmella merch that you want to put out?

Oh, gosh. I would love a new shirt or maybe a new hat. But for me, I love the merchandise that I have right now. I have been waiting so long to have merch. So to even have it, I feel so lucky. I can’t even … Sometimes I see these little girls showing up to shows in my T-shirt and hat, and I think, “Oh, my gosh. That’s me. I’m on a T-shirt. And little girls are buying it and wearing it, ’cause they wanna be like me.” And it’s just really cool. I’m really happy with what I have.

I was actually at the Times Square Foot Locker SummerSlam weekend. We were shooting some footage for a couple videos there. What was that experience like for you to go to this signing in Time Square, see a line around the block, and kids dressed up like Carmella and holding women’s Money in the Bank briefcases just to meet you?

Carmella: Even you saying that is getting me emotional thinking about it. I remember when they told me I had this signing at Foot Locker in Times Square, and I’m thinking, “Is anyone gonna show up? Are people gonna come to this?” And then when we pulled up, they were lined around the block and these people are waiting out in the rain. I was getting tweeted all these pictures of people, like, “Been out here since 4 a.m. waiting to see Carmella.” And I’m thinking, “Holy moly. Gosh, I feel so lucky.” And it’s just a really, really cool feeling.

You can listen to the complete interview as part of the With Spandex Podcast below.

On Wednesday night, the Yellow Brand held their latest batch of television tapings at Full Sail. Please be aware that everything you read in the subsequent paragraphs is an actual, massive, legitimate spoiler for what will happen over the next several weeks of NXT television. You may read on only at your own risk. But if you’re the sort of person who just simply cannot wait until next week to find out what happens next, congratulations! This post is for you!

These tapings should take NXT television all the way up through the end of 2017.

Results from the November 29, 2017 tapings:

— Mike Rome and Kayla Braxton opened the tapings by discussing Drew McIntyre’s injury and explaining there will be four qualifying matches, leading to a Fatal 4-Way to determine a new No. 1 contender for the NXT Championship. Current champ Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega then came out to boast and mock McIntyre.

1. Wolfgang defeated Kona Reeves. This appeared to be a dark match.

2. Killian Dain defeated Trent Seven. This was a qualifier for the No. 1 contender Fatal 4-Way. Dain got the pin after a middle rope splash.

9. The Authors of Pain defeated Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. The Authors won a short match with the Super Collider and Last Chapter.

10. NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly defeated SAnitY (c). Both Adam Cole and Nikki Cross got involved in the match. Eric Young hit a dive to the outside on Cole, then returned to the ring and was hit by Fish and O’Reilly’s version of Total Elimination. The Undisputed Era got the pin on Young to become new champs.

13. Street Profits defeated enhancement talent. One of Montez and Ford’s opponents was Shane Mercer. Profits got the pin with the spinebuster/frog splash combo. They celebrated in the crowd and cut a promo from the top of the bleachers, saying 2018 would be their year.

14. NXT Championship No. 1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Match: Johnny Gargano defeated Killian Dain, Aleister Black and Lars Sullivan. Black looked to have Sullivan beat at one point, but he was attacked by Undisputed Era. Gargano sent Dain into Sullivan with a hurricanrana, then hit Black with a DDT for the pinfall.

The sci-fi genre currently splits the difference between niche entertainment and the mainstream, providing diehard nerds and folks looking for a simple good time with a common ground on which they can unite and share in their enthusiasm. There was a time when tales of aliens, space travel, and robots were believed to be the strict province of four-eyed basement dwellers, but the truth is that everybody can find something to enjoy in the weird world of science fiction. The best sci-fi works in both universal truths and hyperspecific detail, using fantastical yet fully-realized worlds to tell stories about our own.

Netflix‘s selection of good sci fi movies isn’t exhaustive, and it errs mostly on the side of direct-to-video embarrassments, but there are still plenty of pictures worth exploring nestled among the sequels and paycheck-generators. Keep on scrolling for 10 of the best sci-fi movies on Netflix streaming to watch right now, taking you from the moon, the farthest reaches of space, and to the outer fringes of reality itself.

10. Advantageous (2015)

Jennifer Phang, a bold new directorial voice who will move onto higher-profile work as soon as the industry catches up with her, envisions a future where the societal powers-that-be disproportionately undervalue women’s labor and practically cast them aside once they’ve begun to show signs of aging. What makes this “sci-fi” and not “just how the world is” is that protagonist Gwen (played by co-writer Jacqueline Kim, the joint recipient of Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize for Collaborative Vision with Phang) has the option to transfer her consciousness into a younger and fitter body. Phang hits on a lot of the same theoretical points that John Frankenheimer covered in his classic Seconds, but lends this meditation on the modern obsession with youth an intersectional slant by virtue of her identity as a Korean-American woman. Densely packed with ideas and boasting impressive special effects relative to its humble budget, Advantageous is a godsend to young girls with creative ambitions on a galactic scale.

9. Men In Black (1997)

It’s the sci-fi action comedy that ticks all the boxes. The classic pairing of the hotshot newbie and the grizzled, no-nonsense veteran. Casual, ridiculous tech and weaponry. A post-credits rap from Will Smith. The Barry Sonnenfeld-directed flick hit some diminishing returns with its sequels, but the first one is still tremendously entertaining thanks to the chemistry between the post-Fresh Prince Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The pair play secret government agents tasked with patrolling the underground alien presence on Earth, and this time that involves a giant cockroach who could cause the end of the world. It’s as fun as it is funny.

8. John Dies At The End (2012)

John Dies at the End may be hard to define, genre-wise, but it’s pretty undeniably science fiction. While this Don Coscarelli film may fall well short of being this generation’s Evil Dead 2, (or maybe even this generation’s Bubba Ho-Tep), it pretty deftly scratches the same itch. Hallucinations induced by alien substances, phantom limb powers, journeys across both time and dimension, some truly wonderful effects work, and an all-time “scoffing disbelief” performance by the master of scoffing disbelief, Paul Giamatti, make this one well worth your time. If you haven’t checked this one out before (and the box office receipts would tell you that few have), take 100 minutes and find out why the title of the film is anything but a spoiler.

7. The Host (2006)

Korean director Bong Joon-Ho brought the giant monster movie into the 21st century with this story of a strange creature who emerges from the Han River and starts wreaking havoc on everything it encounters. Bong, now probably best known for directing Snowpiercer, made The Host as his follow-up to Memories of Murder, a haunting crime story. And though this is a much different kind of movie, it’s made with the same care and attention to characters, even if the monster unavoidably ends up stealing the show.

6. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Klaatu barada nikto. These three words are nonsense, but like this storied B-movie, they function as a shibboleth, a secret password separating those who get it and those who don’t. In the years after World War II wound up, drive-ins across America were flooded with low-rent sci-fi flicks just like this one, which played to rapt audiences of young nerdlings. The indoor kids who grew up on these sorts of movies would use them as silent markers to identify one another and group together, and a select few even grew up to emulate them and usher in the age of blockbusters. It’s no coincidence that The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the cult movie to end all cult movies, begins by referencing lead actor Michael Rennie.

5. The Road (2009)

It’s hard not to watch The Road without feeling emotionally fatigued. The Cormac McCarthy adaptation takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but that’s only the backdrop for a gripping relationship between a man and his son. Once the world sorta ends — not much time is spent on the “why” — the man struggles to keep his son alive amidst murderers, cannibals, and despair. It’s rough. It’s bleak. It’s a terrifying, dying world that sucks you in as you can almost feel the cold and taste the hunger. But it’s the little moments of hope and love in the pair’s lives that makes it all worthwhile.

4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The Reese’s Pieces. The silhouette of the flying bike against a glowing full moon. “Phone home.” So much of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi bedtime story has attained icon-status through endless repeated viewings, a testament to the enduring universality of his expressions of childlike wonder. To watch E.T. is to be transported to a more innocent time, to flash back to memories of rapt summer nights spent before flickering silver screens. Movies about children can strike a cloying or saccharine tone with one misstep, but Spielberg maintains a clear-eyed view of youth, showing the capacity for awe along with the terror of not understanding the big, scary world around you.

3. The Iron Giant (1999)

For his first film as a writer and director, Brad Bird loosely adapted The Iron Man, an illustrated novel by British poet Ted Hughes, turning it into a Cold War-era story of friendship and political paranoia. Though a box office disappointment at the time, the film’s rightly been embraced as one of the best animated films of the past few decades thanks thanks to its wondrous animation and gentle tone. Bird would find more commercial success when he hooked up with Pixar and made The Incredibles, but if you’ve never seen this one, it’s well worth seeking out.

2. World Of Tomorrow (2015)

The latest release from animation genius Don Hertzfeldt, World Of Tomorrow leaps across millennia, creates clones of clones of clones, waxes poetic on the tragic ephemerality of memory, falls in and out love a few times, and very nearly locates the meaning of life. All of this takes place in 16 minutes. Over the course of a discursive conversation between a three-year-old girl and an adult clone of herself from the future (it makes more sense when you watch it [the third time]), Hertzfeldt crafts deeply moving monuments to sadness and salvation, and splashes it all against gorgeous expressionist abstractions. This is the sort of movie whose dialogue you get tattooed on yourself, or use as a criterion on first dates. A tremendous work of emotional power, World Of Tomorrow affirms the brutal loneliness of common life as a necessary counterbalance that creates joy. It’s really something.

1. Metropolis (1927)

Méliès may have been the first one to break ground on sci-fi, but German master Fritz Lang was the first to realize the genre’s full potential for visual grandeur and covert commentary. With a scale as grand as the countless blockbusters it inspired (this film’s disciples span from George Lucas to Lady Gaga), Lang weaves an epic tapestry of have-nots laboring under a tyrannical society of haves, his proletarian leanings on full display. A dazzling mashup of biblical allusions, Art Deco influences, Gothic architecture, and cinematic trickery, this film is a testament to the magnificent potential of the movies. That Lang was able to assemble such a sophisticated, technically impressive feat of craft so early in the film medium’s nascency is less like the discovery of fire, and more like a Neanderthal inventing an iPod.

Still, the Bucks remain a massively popular part of the pro wrestling world, and as such, there are a lot of people who are making and downloading Matt and Nick Jackson as created Superstars to play as in the game. 2K knows very well how popular the Bucks are, and pretty much everyone in WWE knows about the Young Bucks to some degree.

One double team move that you can give to a tag team in the game is a springboard spike Tombstone piledriver. This is one of the Young Bucks’ signature moves, and if you pull it off in the game, it will trigger Corey Graves referring to it as a “Meltzer Driver.” No, really, check it out.

The Indytaker is the standard spike Tombstone. The ACTUAL Meltzer Driver — named after Wrestling Observer Newsletter creator and good friend of the Bucks, Dave Meltzer — includes a full front flip by the springboarding wrestler (almost invariably Nick) prior to the spike. The player who discovered this knows that, too. And pointed out that you can only trigger this call under specific conditions, strangely.

(I know Nick is the one that hits the Meltzer, but I tried it 3 times with Nick and once with Matt, and Corey only said the move's name when I did it with Matt so I just went with it.)(Oh, and I know it's not actually a Meltzer.)

This past weekend was the first Starrcade in 17 years, and our own Brandon Stroud was lucky enough to get to attend it in person. On the latest episode of McMahonsplaining, he gives us a first-hand account of everything that the rest of us missed by not being able to attend the non-televised live event.

Oh, and also, we were lucky enough to get some time to talk to the current (and first-ever) holder of the women’s Money in the Bank briefcase, the Princess of Staten Island, Carmella! You’ll never believe who is partially to blame for developing her FABULOUS persona.

If that weren’t enough, we also spend some time at the end of the show dream-casting some amazing superhero movies, using nothing but WWE wrestlers. Spoiler: we end up making some AWESOME SOUNDING MOVIES.

Make sure you send your thoughts and questions to withspandexpodcast@uproxx.com, because we’ll read the best emails on the show, and we have a lot of cool giveaways to give away.

Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free WWE Smackdown Live results for November 28, 2017. The show featured a six-woman tag team match showcasing the new NXT call-ups, AJ Styles in a handicap match against the Singh Brothers, and a grudge match between Randy Orton and Kevin Owens.

Be back here tomorrow for the full Best and Worst of Smackdown column.

WWE Smackdown Live results:

— The show opened with Shane McMahon, who brought out Daniel Bryan and complained that Bryan did not fire Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens last week. He then made Owens vs. Randy Orton a no disqualification match and barred Zayn from ringside.

1. The New Day defeated Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable. The Usos sat in on commentary for this match. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods hit the UpUpDownDown on Benjamin, and Woods pinned him.

— After the match, Mojo Rawley attacked Ryder during an interview and beat him down, yelling that the Hype Bros are dead.

3. Handicap Match: AJ Styles defeated the Singh Brothers. Jinder Mahal attacked Styles before the match started. Styles delivered a second-rope Styles Clash holding one Singh Brother and landing on the other and won by pinfall. Mahal also attacked the Singhs after the match.

4. Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sara Logan defeated Naomi, Charlotte Flair and Natalya. Natalya abandoned her team early and went to the back. Morgan and Logan took out Naomi on the outside with a catapult into the steel steps, leaving Charlotte alone. Riott hit her overhead kick finisher and got the pin.

— Breezango’s latest Fashion Files, a Saw parody, aired.

5. No Disqualification Match: Kevin Owens defeated Randy Orton. Sami Zayn interfered in the match, attacking Orton with a chair on the ramp. Owens won via pinfall after a frog splash.

It’s entirely possible that there’s no single topic we’ve written more about in 2017 here on With Spandex than the saga of Broken Matt Hardy and the legal goings-on surrounding the ownership of that pro wrestling “universe.”

To (very, very briefly) recap: Hardy was the mastermind behind the Broken Hardys segments on Impact Wrestling, which single-handedly revitalized interest in that company prior to its own legal kerfuffles involving being sold to Anthem and a lawsuit involving former company president Billy Corgan. When Matt and Jeff Hardy left Impact, Matt filed for trademarks on his Broken Universe characters, the content of which was (as we understand it) entirely written and created by Matt and his wife Reby Hardy, with help from Impact producer Jeremy Borash.

Anthem and Impact Wrestling have filed its own trademarks on the Broken Hardys and their universe, and has adamantly and publicly claimed ownership of that intellectual property, and the feud has been full of bad blood and ire on both sides. And still, the Hardys have remained unbroken in WWE. Matt has been doing some clever end-arounds on his own, but the Hardy Boyz have remained staunchly the Hardy Boyz.

Until Monday night, that is.

Jeff Hardy is out due to injury for the remainder of the year (and beyond), and Matt has been in the midst of a spectacularly abysmal losing streak on his own. After a quick loss to Bray Wyatt on Monday night, it appears as though something may have snapped loose … in the best way possible.

If they’re finally going to break Matt (and presumably have the legal right to do so), Wyatt is probably the ideal choice to do the deed. Matt has said before that Wyatt would be his dream WWE opponent, and the two supernatural cult leaders would be perfect foils for one another. (Particularly since neither man has anything substantial going on right now.)

We genuinely hope this leads to the introduction of King Maxel to WWE television proper, and all the Broken Universe trappings that come along with Broken Matt. Bring it on, everybody. We are EXTRAORDINARILY ready.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/broken-matt-hardy-debuts-wwe-raw/feed/6Broken-Matt-Hardy-Raw.jpgAlex Riley Beat Out Two WWE Superstars For His Role In ‘GLOW’http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/steel-horse-glow-alex-riley-role/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/steel-horse-glow-alex-riley-role/#commentsMon, 27 Nov 2017 20:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400951953

Netflix

Alex Riley was released from WWE in 2016, and looked to make a transition into the world of acting. He managed to land a small role as Steel Horse in the first season of the universally-acclaimed Netflix show GLOW, which ended up being more high-profile than anything he did during his entire run in WWE.

We talked to Riley at the GLOW premiere and he was extremely thankful for the role, and understood what a big break it was. But what we didn’t know was that there were some other wrestlers up for the role before Riley landed it. Not just other wrestlers, but WWE Superstars with plenty of acting experience under their own belts.

On Chris Jericho’s latest podcast, he talked to the “Beatdown Biddies” themselves, Kimmy Gatewood and Rebekka Johnson, who were real-life best friends who somehow managed to get cast on GLOW as best friends. Also along for the ride on the GLOW-themed episode was Chavo Guerrero, who trained the actresses for the show.

During the interview, Jericho revealed that he himself had tried out for the role of Steel Horse, and dropped a little old-fashioned shade Riley’s way in passing. (Transcript via Cageside Seats.)

“[WWE] had a show in Edmonton and I don’t really like to audition, just not really my thing … they said ‘I got this thing for GLOW,’ and I’m like that sounds pretty cool, cause I don’t do anything cause I have to… I was like I like GLOW, so this will be fun. So I actually set up my little, uh, phone in the dressing room in Edmonton after a show in a room by myself and I auditioned for Steel Horse.

“And I didn’t get it, and not only didn’t I get it, but Alex Riley got it, who’s about a one on the scale of wrestling notoriety … ”

Guerrero further revealed that Jericho wasn’t the only current WWE Superstar to be passed over for the role: The Miz auditioned to play Steel Horse as well. Chavo believes Riley secured the role by going all-out and auditioning in full costume (which I assume doesn’t mean the T-shirt and jeans that Steel Horse ends up wearing in the actual episodes). I guess that Miz’s protege finally got one up on him after all.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/steel-horse-glow-alex-riley-role/feed/8Alex-RIley-Steel-Horse.jpgMick Foley Talks To Us About His New Book, Being Kind, And Defending Virgilhttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/mick-foley-interview-saint-mick/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/mick-foley-interview-saint-mick/#commentsMon, 27 Nov 2017 18:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400947876

WWE.com

When Foley agreed to meet up with us for the McMahonsplaining podcast, we were thrilled. It’s not every day you get to talk to a legitimate legend and one of the most recognizable figures in the history of professional wrestling. What we didn’t know is that the conversation would be so much fun, so easy-going … and travel in so many directions.

We spoke to Foley upstairs at Book Soup in West Hollywood, just prior to him holding a reading of his latest book, Saint Mick, for a few dozen lucky fans. You can hear the entire conversation on episode 15 of the With Spandex Podcast, but here is a taste of the wide-ranging conversation we had with the WWE Hall of Famer.

UPROXX: Just to say it Mick, you look fantastic. The DDP Yoga’s been rocking and rolling.

Yeah it definitely helped out. The DDP yoga, some better food choices. It’s tough, man, when you’re driving around Los Angeles it’s … what I had, I’m a binge eater, right? And I love the comfort foods. If instead of binge eating I was a heroin addict, and there was a sign for heroin on every block like, “get it here,” “right off the poppy.” To get away from a day driving in Los Angeles especially when things were kind of hectic and to try to eat healthy, it’s … man, it’s an ordeal, especially if you love the bad stuff like I do.

So what bad stuff that you’ve cut out do you miss the most?

Well I haven’t completely eliminated anything, cut back dramatically. I love ice cream and the problem is it’s anything especially if it’s associated with a good memory. That’s what makes it so difficult. This isn’t probably where you guys thought this thing would go.

No, this is exactly what we want.

But you’re tied up and it’s almost impossible to avoid it because you’ve got Halloween with the double whammy of the candy and the pumpkin spice stuff. And I like anything pumpkin, even before it became cool. I was pumpkin before pumpkin was cool.

You’re the original pumpkin hipster.

If you’re the original then you’re not a hipster, right? You’re an original, you’re not a follower —

Pumpkin pioneer.

I was a pumpkin “pie”-oneer.

Nice.

As a matter of fact, [people] used to give me pumpkin cookbooks on the road, because they knew that I loved it. So to try to get through that maze and then jump right into the holidays where everything is out there. But it was two years ago when I lost 17 pounds in December. I was like, all right, if I can lose 17 pounds in December I think I can do this thing. And it’s just a matter of making wise choices far more often than not and hoping that when you wake up at four in the morning with a craving for children’s breakfast cereals that you stop at three or four bowls.

But I’ve had the hip and knee replacement and the knee replacement’s really painful, and you wake up in the middle of the night and there’s just no rationalizing with that mind that wants, “I want Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I want Golden Grahams, I want stuff to taste like desserts in the guise of a breakfast cereal, now.”

I have a two-part question for you, to follow up on what you said. Since you have a deep love for the holidays and you like to eat bad food because it’s associated with great memories, what is your favorite holiday food memory?

Oh man. Well, my son made me woofle-jelly cakes. There is no such food as a woofle-jelly cake. It exists only in Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. And every year when we’d go to Santa’s Village in the mountains of New Hampshire — not the one that recently reopened here in the mountains of Southern California — my son would walk up and, “Can I have the woofle-jelly cake?” And then the woman would look at the man behind the counter, pointing to the raspberry tart. So he found a way to make raspberry shortbread cookies. And just anything especially made for me with love, that’s tough to turn down, you know? Tough to turn down.

And he’s a pretty good little cook, my youngest son, and so he makes a lot of things. I used to complain to my daughter. I would say, “There’s no way you can put me in a position where you and your friends are baking and then I come home and you expect there to be something left? No, no don’t do it. Hide it.” There’s all kinds of things hidden from me in my own house. So that would be my favorite … yeah my favorite food memory is probably my son making woofle-jelly cakes for me.

That is adorable. Second part of the question is, does getting in shape hurt the Santa image?

Oh, does getting in shape hurt the Santa image? No I think, as I said to my son last year when he told me I was too skinny to be Santa, I said, “I have to believe in my heart the world has a place for a 248-pound Santa.” Because I was down 90, from 338 to around 247 and then in my book, Saint Mick … I’m not even going to try to push the book very hard. It’s something that people connect with or they go, ‘I know he likes that, but I’m okay without any more knowledge of that.”

But I talk about going to a house on a Christmas Eve visit and the armchair just shattering while I was sitting in it. It just shattered and I said not since Jimmy Dean’s iconic 1961 song “Big Bad John” had timber cracked with such frightening velocity. Which is a great song. “Came the day at the bottom of the mine when a timber cracked and men started cryin’. Miners were prayin’ and hearts beat fast and everybody thought that they’d breathed their last ‘cept” … you’re getting emotional aren’t you?

Yes. Did you ever think of recording your own great story songs CD?

Just Bill Shatner-ing my way through it?

More like Red Sovine.

What a great storyteller, right? He would sing about the trains and trucks, the “Phantom 309,” was that him?

“Teddy Bear”

The teddy bear, yeah. And there would always be that hook at the end that would get you. And even if you heard it like 20 times, that line comes around —

Those country story songs, the ending was always like, ” … and the kid is dead.”

No, it’s never the kid is dead. It’s “mom is dead.” Like “Roses For Mama,” where the one guy, the narrator of the song is trying to hustle off, he’s too busy to get anything for his mother and the little boy comes up, “I just want some roses for my mama,” and then —

Well like that Dolly Parton song “Little Andy” where the kid’s dead.

The craziest thing about that song is that I’m a huge Dolly Parton fan. I’m on record saying if I could meet one person, and not talking about going back theologically in time, but one person living on the earth. Now I would like to meet Dolly Parton. And I say love and I mean that in the purest form since I was seven or eight years old.

As a matter of a fact when the Santa community turned on me for a little while before the release of I Am Santa Claus, some of them they couldn’t even refer to Santa Jim kissing his boyfriend as a kiss, they would call it “that thing they did” on the carousel. Yeah, there’s some pretty —

That’s awful.

Yeah there was some people taking it out on me for being one of the producers of the film and so I thought, all right, when the Santa world has turned on me where do you go if Santa’s not there for you? And my answer was Dolly Parton’s always there for me.

Exactly. She will always love you.

She will always love me. But I listened to that song “Little Andy”, I got the CD it was live in San Francisco at a time like ’78, ’79 when she was … it’s amazing where these conversations go, right?

And she was expanding from her, I think it was New Harvest … First Gathering was the name of the album that she was promoting and she sang “Little Andy” to a crowd in San Francisco that didn’t know what it was about and they started laughing during the song. And I’m listening to the song, I had tears in my eyes in the car, I’m like, “Little Andy’s dead,” because she’s singing it in that funny voice. And then at the end she’s like, “Why are you all laughing?” If I meet her that’s one thing I’ll probably say, “Can I hug you for that moment? That must have hurt a little bit.”

We need to figure out a way for UPROXX to arrange Dolly Parton and Mick Foley to be in one place at one time. That may be too much legend to handle. We could also throw Elvira in there and handle all the Holidays.

I’ve met Elvira. [She’s] very nice. When you’re a wrestler, you have to, eventually. Because a wrestler can fit in any convention, any format. So it’s like baseball card show, yes. Wrestling convention, obviously. Monster truck show, yeah. Science fiction show, sure, why not, comic con, goes without saying. But the thing is if you take another guest from the sci fi show and put them at the Monster Truck event, they may not make it out alive.

I just did HorrorHound in Columbus and it went really well. They had the kids from A Christmas Story there, Scut Farkus and Grover Dill. And you can tell when someone’s a big Christmas Story fan when they don’t say, “Scott Farkus.”

Scut. Very important distinction.

Yeah, very important. I had my photo taken with those guys. They were like holding me up for money, shaking me down.

They were giving you the Virgil treatment.

In defense of Virgil, everyone who does a convention will ultimately be in a lonely Virgil place. You can’t … if you’re there say for eight hours a day for three days, you’re talking 24 hours at a table.

WWE, to their great credit, never puts their Superstars, or Al Snow, in a position … thanks. [laughs] In a position where they’re seen as anything but huge stars. So they come in two hours, sometimes one hour and it doesn’t matter who it is, it’s been so well-promoted that they’re never going to be sitting at a table by themselves.

Even the most popular of people eventually, if they’re there for many hours during multiple days, are eventually going to be alone and you just hope no one’s there to document it. Especially with the great expansive area; because he was at a table, and there was nothing going on for several hundred yards in any direction.

Well now that we’ve gotten an Al Snow burn, we need a Mean Street Posse burn at some point.

I got that out of my system in 2001. I read Pete Gas’s book, I thought it was pretty good. It’s all about different perspectives. I enjoyed Jim Ross’s book because there aren’t many books written from the business perspective or management perspective so it was really interesting to see things from there. Pete was a guy who played a role. The whole Mean Street Posse did and I thought they performed pretty admirably. They became a pretty big part of the show for a while there.

Let’s talk about Saint Mick a little bit because I’m excited about that because —

Come on, no one’s excited about that.

I’m excited about it. I have a copy right here.

It is a book that I think will find a readership eventually. It’s not necessarily the wrestling fans, because most of them … this is documented in 2014, when I had the I Am Santa Claus movie coming out at the end of that year, so I had told Morgan Spurlock, our executive producer, “Look you can get some grassroots support for the movie, I’m going to wear something Santa Claus-esque or Christmas-y every day of the year and I’ll document it.” You know, put it on Twitter.

Every day there was a different look. It was like, here is Santa … they would show me, “Santa day number 124 it’s a custom button down on Katie Couric.” And it would have like one retweet, two likes. And then my children would see that I was losing followers. And this is in like 2013 when I had the hall of fame thing going, I was like, wow there’s this huge climb and it was like, man I’m gaining 50,000 followers a week. Then as soon as I started tweeting about Santa it was like I’m losing a couple hundred people a day, slow, slow, minor hemorrhaging.

It’s just now something people connect with at least not March, April, May, or June. So we’ll probably do a little publicity run after Thanksgiving, but I did not write it with the expectation that many people would read it. And at one point, was just going to self-publish it for like a hundred to two hundred people.

And definitely you don’t do any Santa-related touring or promotion in Philadelphia.

Because they historically treat the big guy in red bad there. Right, with the snowballs? Yeah. But I think our fan base they, the word comes out, I think there’s a certain amount of pride where they go, “You know one of guys he’ll grow his beard out for an entire year, like that’s his commitment to the cause.” So I think people, they get a kick out of it, but it’s not something … Santa is to me what hunting is to Shawn Michaels. Nobody’s going to become a hunter because they like a Shawn Michaels match. Like sure, man, he is the showstopper. I wonder what other hobbies he has?

Do you think there’s anybody out there that has like 60 camo hats and they don’t know what to do with them and that’s how they get into hunting?

I don’t know. I don’t really know. It’s one of those things … it’s similar with Santa, you either get it or you … it either clicks with you or it doesn’t.

So if you’re a pumpkin pioneer, you also are a pioneer of pro-wrestlers turned authors.

Yeah, yeah. Actually, if anyone likes anything that wrestlers have done, any renaissance men, Adrian Street’s probably the first guy to look to because he was writing his own music, coming out to music before anyone else did it. Adrian Street was thought to be too small. You should look into this. He’s a really interesting guy because he could paint, he could sculpt, he could write songs, he could write novels, and he could break your leg in about 18 different ways before you knew it was happening. So he was a really interesting guy, and he was writing. But I think mine was certainly the one that brought it into — 30 years later, 25 years later, brought it into the forefront. So I guess I can take credit for some of the good books and bear the blame for some of the not-so-good ones.

Well I don’t think the value of art of is in whether or not people think it’s good or bad. You’re writing it for a purpose for your own self. Very much like Saint Mick, you write it because it’s in your heart and you want to get it out there.

Well in this case, that is accurate and that’s one of the things that I love about the book is because there was no market audience for it and because I wrote it and eventually I got a tiny advance, but a real small advance and I donated that and the audio to children’s charities. So I’m out here promoting something I really believe in.

After Have a Nice Day, there was always a sense, oh, I might be able to make some money on this one. So hey, I’m going to write a followup without telling anyone, and then that one did really well. They did two Countdown to Lockdown Hardcore Diaries, they were works in progress whereas documenting things that were going on as the events transpired. So I had no idea how they were going to finish up. And in this case I thought I had an important, surreal, and touching story to share and that if I didn’t share it this year, that I would regret it. So I put pen to paper last fall and I’m really happy with it.

We’re both looking forward to reading, it for sure.

What you should do is get the audio [from my reading] so you can hear me break down on the last page of my own book. I got very emotional. It was a deep story and I’m looking back on the whole thing and I don’t want to give away the ending for you, but one of the themes is something I’ve touched on in at least on of my other books, is you don’t let anyone else define for you what being a success is.

And this will not be the story I broke down on but at the end of the main part of the book I’m heading home — this is with the understanding that I’ve had one Santa experience, really a real Santa experience. I talk about dressing up in a Party City suit for our troops, which is great but they always, okay, it’s just one of the guys with an unmanageable mane of hair and an ultra fake beard and you just have to look hard enough, okay it’s Steve Walsh this year, or Mick Foley this year.

So I had 30 children in the mountains of New Hampshire in early December then my next appearance as Santa was in front of thousands of people and millions on TV for Tribute to the Troops and I had the RAW episode where Alberto del Rio ran down Santa with a BMW and I got a little spoiled. Okay, I’m supposed to be that guy in front of thousands. And so it was four years after that when I’m driving home with my son and we had just done this great Christmas Eve visit for these two children, and I said, “I feel like I just had a big PPV match.” And he goes, “But dad there was only three people there”. I said, “Yeah it doesn’t matter.”It’s that idea of creating something. Like there’s only three of us here and it’s magical, right?

Absolutely. I never thought I could talk to you about Dolly Parton’s 1970 discography, but we’re doing it. How are you feeling after your surgeries?

Well in general I’m feeling good. My back’s locking up on me a little bit, I have to figure out why. I think that’s because I was a little ambitious setting out for a book tour one month after total knee replacement. A little ambitious. And then when I went on this 12-day tour I did not bring the cane and so I’m moving around a lot more and I think from compensating for the injury now I’m putting too much pressure on something. So it’s been a bad back day for a few days, but it’ll pass.

Quick Christmas question for you. With the world being as sort of tumultuous as it is right now and people being so divided and being so reactionary, how do you detach from that especially being someone who has to be on social media to promote your work? How do you detach from that and truly enjoy a holiday that’s supposed to be so happy and pure?

Well that’s a good question. I made up my mind that when I’m … like I remember after the election we went to Animal Kingdom the day after the election and I think I’m on record saying I wish it had turned out differently and that makes a lot of people angry. Some of my fan base is not on board with that. And I just thought when people ask me for autographs I’m going to go, “Well who did you vote for?” And then I said, no, no, no there’s enough division. You know what, I’m going to go out and I’m going to be nicer to everybody.

And I’ve tried so especially when you put on the red suit, you don’t dare ask, you don’t think about what’s somebody’s, whose somebody’s mom or dad may have voted for. You’re on disconnect from it and you try to be the best you can for every child regardless of race, creed … there are a few guys who specifically feel this is a Christian tradition and resent somebody of a non-Christian background getting on the line. Then I would say that’s an absolute minimum, but there are places in the country where you don’t run into people that don’t look like you very often.

And I think when I get off of, I’ve been to 49 states and 37 countries, and I remember getting off a … I had to get on a plane and I stopped by to get a couple essentials and I saw, wow, I’m the only Caucasian here on the street and I’m fine with that because I’m used to it. But you take somebody who is not used to that and put them in front of a flood of people of different colors and backgrounds and they get scared because change is scary to some people.

They refer to kissing your boyfriend as, “that thing they do.”

“That thing they do,” yeah. And there is a great fear of change and if somebody comes along and tells them … I don’t want to get into politics. I believe Donald Trump captured the fear vote by a landslide and he’ll probably do whatever he can to exploit that the next time around, as well.

So since we have to let you go, we agreed we were going to think about seeing if you could give us a Santa Claus sign-off.

I don’t know if I can just metamorphosize at your will. This character requires deep thought and transformation. It’s not a role I play, it’s a transformation I undergo. [deep Santa laugh] Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

I might be able to do that. But thank you guys. Thanks for the conversation.

You can listen to the full conversation with Mick Foley as part of the below podcast.

Next up was Survivor Series, where Angle was part of Team Raw and didn’t have to put on Shield gear, although he DID augment his classic in-ring getup with a Raw shirt and some very snazzy patriotic mittens. He also appeared with his right leg very heavily bandaged, which definitely raised some eyebrows.

That Survivor Series main event was even less well-received than Angle’s first match back, although that had very little to do with Angle and more with how the 5-on-5 elimination match was put together. Still, there were questions about how many more matches we might expect out of the Olympic hero and Hall of Famer.

During a Facebook Q and A session (which Angle does pretty regularly on his page), a fan asked him why his leg was taped up at Survivor Series. Angle confirmed that he experienced a not-insignificant injury a couple days before the event.

“Leg is ok. I tore a muscle in it doing wind sprints 2 days before PPV. It’s okay though. I feel good and should be 100% in a week.”

Angle expects to be back at full strength soon enough, and also mentioned that he looks forward to “what’s ahead” with Triple H in their burgeoning feud. Triple H was rumored to be Angle’s first opponent back, and that didn’t end up being too far from the reality of the situation. The two icons are likely headed for a big blowoff match, either at Royal Rumble or WrestleMania, so get ready to party like it’s 2000 all over again.

Pretty much ever since the moment The Undertaker sank back down into the depths of the ramp at WrestleMania 33, fans and wrestlers alike have been loudly speculating (perhaps mostly hoping) that we haven’t ACTUALLY seen the last of the Dead Man, and that he’s not REALLY retired.

It’s entirely possible (perhaps even likely) that Undertaker is done for good and is just preparing for his eventual induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. But we all know how difficult it is for longtime major stars to say goodbye to the sport. Especially when they had previously been on the once- or twice-a-year schedule for as long as Undertaker has been.

During his time away since WrestleMania, Taker hasn’t had a whole lot to do except focus on being healthy and enjoying life. He may have had a surgery during his downtime, and he’s been spotted out at events like the premiere of Ric Flair’s 30 for 30. And as it turns out, he WAS at Survivor Series, just not as a performer.

“I think he might have looked too good. I think when you get when you hang around or you show up and you look that good, they in the WWE, they’re ready for you to come back. You know, closer to the time after WrestleMania and I think I said that I believe we’ve seen the last of Undertaker in the ring. Now, I’m going to I’m going to go back on my word. Just looking at him the other night, I think there are some more matches left in the Undertaker.

“So there’s a TV and monitor to watch the show. There were three seats. Three chairs in front of the monitor and I was sitting in the one on the left-hand side and in the middle now, to my right, sitting next to me, was Undertaker. And to his right sitting next to him was Kane.

“We were all just sitting here watching the show talking about old times and stuff, and all of a sudden, the door happened to be open. All of a sudden, we saw John Cena. He went past the door and glanced in, and then he just went past. Suddenly we saw him backing up, he just backed up, and he looked in at the three of us sitting there – and he said, ‘that’s pretty cool.’ And he just walked on.”

Of course, as always, this is just one fellow wrestler’s opinion, but if anyone would be a good judge of knowing when someone isn’t ready to hang it up, it’s probably Jerry “literally wrestled this past weekend at age 67” Lawler.

On Saturday night, WWE held a very special Live Event, as they brought Starrcade back from the dead. The event was once the flagship annual show for NWA and then WCW, but there had not been an event held under that name since the year 2000. Starrcade returned to Greensboro, North Carolina — the site of the very first Starrcade, back in 1983 — for an evening of old-school goodness that (for the time being, at least) is not available for anyone but the lucky live crowd to have witnessed.

But since there’s a lot of interest in Starrcade (and because everyone who wasn’t there probably wishes on some level that they could have been), we’re happy to offer you the results, in our trademark quick and dirty format.

WWE Starrcade 2017 results:

1. Bobby Roode defeated Dolph Ziggler. Arn Anderson served as the special outside enforcer for this match. Anderson hit Ziggler with a spinebuster, then Roode hit the Glorious DDT to get the pin.

2. The Bludgeon Brothers, Mike Kanellis, the Colons and Rusev defeated Breezango, Sin Cara, the Ascension and Tye Dillinger. The Bludgeon Brothers hit their two-man finish and picked up the pinfall.

3. Naomi defeated Tamina.

4. Dustin Rhodes defeated Dash Wilder. Rhodes won by pinfall with a bulldog. After the match, Rhodes addressed the Greensboro crowd.

5. United States Championship Match: Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Baron Corbin (c). Nakamura won by disqualification after Corbin used a steel chair. Nakamura turned the tide and hit the Kinshasa after the match.

— The Hardy Boyz thanked the crowd for 25 years of support. Then they brought out the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express and aired a video tribute to the Hall of Fame team. The New Day then arrived and the three teams had a twerking dance party.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-starrcade-results-november-25-2017/feed/3Dustin-Rhodes-Starrcade.jpgArn Anderson Appeared At Starrcade To Prove He Still Has The Best Spinebuster On The Planethttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-starrcade-arn-anderson-spinebuster/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-starrcade-arn-anderson-spinebuster/#commentsSun, 26 Nov 2017 01:52:05 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400952135

WWE

Longtime pro wrestling fans know that WWE Hall of Famer and Four Horseman Arn Anderson is one of the biggest badasses in wrestling history, and not just because he looks like your dad’s mean friend. As it turns out, not only is he still a certified badass and part-time enforcer, but he’s still the undisputed master of the spinebuster.

When Starrcade rolled into Greensboro on Saturday, WWE promised lots of old school goodness. But I don’t think anyone expected Arn By God Anderson was going to be mixing it up and handing out spinebusters like Thanksgiving leftovers.

During a grudge match between Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode, Anderson took exception to Ziggler’s shenanigans and was moved to get into the ring and impress upon Ziggler some justice, Horsemen style.

That spinebuster is a god dang thing of beauty. Look at it. KABLAMMO. And that definitely helped Roode get the win. Always count on the Enforcer to help you turn the tide.

And let this be a lesson to absolutely everyone out there: don’t ever, ever run afoul of your dad’s mean old friends who tuck all their shirts in. They’re gonna whip out that old man strength with the quickness and beat you the hell down.

There are few (if any) current WWE Superstars more entertaining or endearing than Rusev. The Bulgarian Brute entertains us on the regular on WWE television, whether it be via his weekly celebrations of Rusev Day on Smackdown Live, or via his constantly being befuddled by his wife Lana on Total Divas.

Some of the most entertaining Rusev moments of the past couple of years have centered on the WWE 2K series. This year, his unboxing video for the special edition of 2K18 sent to him by his good friend John Cena was maybe the most brilliant moment a Superstar has had on social media … maybe ever. And last year, he griped at length about Sami Zayn receiving a higher rating than him in 2K17.

This year, Rusev is at it again. During a bit of playing the game with SPORF, which we think is the puppet cat from “Too Many Cooks,” Rusev again took umbrage with his rating … because it’s the same as Shane McMahon’s. He’s got a legitimate point here! (He’s also still upset about Sami Zayn, for the record.)

“How can an undefeated Superstar for a whole year, go on to face John Cena at WrestleMania on freaking tank be rated 84? And Sami Zayn, who weighs 180 pounds, shaves his abs with a razor, can have a higher rating than me? And also Shane McMahon is what, 84? He wrestles once a year? Oh so he does stunts?

“The only other realistic rating is Vince McMahon, who has 74, ’cause he sucks.”

Ratings in video games are silly, especially because of the heated debate they inspire among fans and athletes alike. Grousing about player ratings in NBA 2K and Madden is basically a cottage industry at this point. But in this case … I think Rusev is right to be angry. He’s a full-time wrestler in WWE and has had stretches of dominance over the past few years. Shane McMahon is a 47-year-old executive who wrestles once or twice a year.

There’s only one way to settle this: Shane McMahon vs. Rusev at WrestleMania 34. Winner gets a higher rating in WWE 2K19. Let’s do it.

There are few people in pro wrestling more beloved than Daniel Bryan. The current Smackdown general manager finds ways to keep busy when he’s not on television, other than appearing on his OTHER television show, Total Divas.

Bryan is also currently on a one-man quest to make the world believe that he’s going to return to the ring next year, by hook or by crook. He talks about his desire to wrestle again in pretty much every interview or appearance he makes, and keeps name-dropping people he wants to get in the ring with, from AJ Styles to Shinsuke Nakamura. Although he’s made it clear that he is willing to leave WWE if they won’t clear him to wrestle, he’s recently said that there’s a small chance WWE might relent someday if all the pieces fall into place.

The reason fans are champing at the bit to see Bryan return to action is because for the majority of his career (most of which took place outside of WWE, as Bryan Danielson), he was known as one of the best wrestlers in the world, if not the best. He won Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s “Most Outstanding Wrestler” award every year from 2006-2010, and “Best Technical Wrestler” every year from 2005 to 2013. That’s such a stretch of dominance that the award is actually now officially called the Bryan Danielson Award.

While Bryan was at the peak of his ability, a fortuitous few wrestlers were lucky enough to be able to train under him at the Ring of Honor Wrestling Academy. He took over head trainer duties from Austin Aries in 2005 while still the reigning ROH World Champion, and held the position until 2007, when Delirious took over.

One of the wrestlers who got to train under Bryan is former ROH Tag Team Champion Rhett Titus, and apparently sitting under Bryan’s learning tree was no bed of roses (if I may mix plant metaphors). In a recent interview with Interactive Wrestling Radio, Titus explained what a strict teacher Bryan could be, and how there was a steep learning curve going from Aries to Danielson.

“Going from training with [Austin] Aries to Brian Danielson was a bit of a change. Aries was a more laid back trainer. He said, ‘I’m not here to be your personal trainer. I’m here to be your wrestling trainer.’ I thought that was very cool. Aries was a little more laid back. If you were a few minutes late, don’t worry about it. Bryan, on the other hand … every day before practice, we had to do tons of hindu squats, tons of pushups, tons of everything. And then, we’d learn a little bit of wrestling. I respect wrestling, obviously, and having to pay your dues. I would push myself in the gym and then would have to come and do all these extra squats. Especially on leg day, that was killing me!

“Bryan was also very strict. Practice would start at five o’clock! I was coming from work at that time. It was about an hour and a half from work. If I missed one traffic light, I was going to be late. If I was late, I would always have to do extra squats, extra push ups, extra run the ropes. Extra everything!

“I remember one day [laughs] I was running a little late. ‘Ah man, I don’t think I’m gonna make it!’ So, I put my boots on in the car. I pulled up to the school at 4:58. I went running upstairs in the school and at 4:59 with about 10 seconds to spare, I hopped into the ring. He was like, ‘Made it on time?’ So we started. And Bryan was like, ‘Who the hell dragged mud into my ring?’ Everyone was looking at the bottom of their feet and no one had mud. I look at the bottom of my feet, and of course, I’m the one with mud. So, I had to do extra squats, extra push ups, extra run the ropes … even though I was on time! [laughs]

“I came to grips with the idea that I was going to have to do a little bit more than everyone else. In the end, it made me appreciate everything a little bit more. If you ever see me and I’m being hard on a young guy, you know why!”

While Daniel Bryan is a supreme goofball, he’s always taken pro wrestling more seriously than anything else. It probably wasn’t a lot of fun to be his student, but very few can say they were trained by one of the best of all time.

It seems strange to think about, but sometimes even The Rock has trouble getting a reaction from people. Maybe this is just the bleak life that Dwayne Johnson has to look forward to, now that he’s no longer the Sexiest Man Alive. Sad!

Anyway, while Johnson may not exactly be John Cena when it comes to doing charity work (because no one is; Cena laps the field several times over), he’s often spotted doing some really cool things for some really cool people. Like hugging heroic kids on movie sets, or performing impromptu serenades for fans.

Well, I am happy to inform you that our hero is at it again. While still filming on the set of Skyscraper, Johnson popped in to serenade a five-year-old fan, whose Make-A-Wish request was to meet Maui from Moana. Not only did Johnson don a Maui wig (although the camo fatigues he was wearing weren’t exactly canon), he treated little Ty to his signature billion-watt grin AND a full verse of “You’re Welcome.” And for his troubles … he got absolutely no response.

That’s just cold, Ty. Cold as ice. Especially leaving the Rock hanging on a high-five like that. Johnson insists Ty lost his mind the instant he left, but of course THAT wasn’t captured on video.

“Always happens like this, even though Ty remained in shock and didn’t say a word the whole time, the moment I walked away to go back to work, little Ty was SO EXCITED and would NOT STOP TALKING about how he met his best friend MAUI. I’m also pretty sure he even said how Maui was waaaaayyy better looking and talented in person. Hey if Ty’s happy, then Maui’s happy.”

Better luck next time, Rock. You haven’t had this negative a reaction to an impromptu concert in … about 14 years.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/the-rock-make-a-wish-maui-youre-welcome/feed/3The-Rock-Maui-Make-A-Wish.jpgWWE Has Met With Disney, Fox, And Other Networks About More Programminghttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-network-meetings-fox-disney/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/wwe-network-meetings-fox-disney/#commentsThu, 23 Nov 2017 21:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400950645

YouTube

WWE is in the midst of one of its most successful years in company history, in terms of revenue and profitability. They continue to push into new markets and investigate new platforms. They’ve not only set the bar for over-the-top subscription services, they’ve pretty much lapped the field (if you’re talking about niche platforms instead of broad media empires like Netflix and Hulu). The company has come a very long way since the days of gambling on enterprises like Tout.

While WWE’s deal with NBC Universal to broadcast Raw and Smackdown Live runs through September 2019, there’s absolutely nothing stopping them from creating additional programming for other outlets or networks. And other networks appear to be interested enough to at least meet with the company to discuss options.

Yes, this could potentially mean more WWE programming to watch from week to week. Because there isn’t enough right now.

The Sports Business Journal reports that over the summer, WWE held meetings with Fox, Disney, CBS, Amazon and YouTube. In the case of Fox Sports, their contract with UFC ends soon, and they reportedly view WWE as “acceptable replacement programming” for UFC, should the MMA giant choose to take its business elsewhere.

There’s no danger of Raw and Smackdown moving networks, but WWE could pop up in other forms and in other places. While it’s extremely unlikely given how the company tends to operate, this could be a great opportunity to try some other things and experiment a bit more. Either way, it’s very interesting that so many networks are thinking about testing the waters when it comes to WWE, and could bode very well for the next time WWE needs to shop around for a new television contract.

It’s that time of year again: time for turkey and stuffing (or tofurkey and tofuffing, if you’re not into meat; we don’t judge here), and awkward family interactions. Time to take a couple days off to sit back and reflect on what you have, and what you’re thankful for.

If you happen to be a pro wrestling fan, there’s a whole lot to be thankful for this year. There’s all the great stuff that’s happening all over the world with independent wrestling and New Japan. There’s the mainstream goodness of stuff like “Nature Boy” and Ric Flair getting national acclaim. There’s the fact that Ric Flair is still with us and in fine health!

And in WWE, as much as all of us like to complain now and then, things are pretty dang good. There’s a lot of stuff to like and a lot of highlights in 2017 that we’ll look back on fondly. And there’s so much that happens in WWE on a weekly basis, that you’re forgiven if there are some things that managed to pass you by.

So on that note, let us talk about the wonder of 205 Live’s Drew Dulak. I believe the Gobbledy Gulaker’s plan for a better Thanksgiving is the perfect way to start this celebration.

Yes, Drew Gulak. He first came to WWE as just another pure wrestling nerd in black tights who took part in the Cruiserweight Classic last summer.

At the time he got the call from WWE, Gulak was leading a stable of fellow wrestling purists known as Catch Point over in EVOLVE. He had been a former CZW World Heavyweight Champion, and had garnered acclaim with his in-ring skills and stripped-down approach which made him stand out in otherwise wild-as-hell indie promotions. But in WWE, he had a lot of trouble standing out.

When the cruiserweights were brought up to Raw and given 205 Live as their personal playground, Gulak was mostly notable for not being notable in any way. Rumors were that WWE was considering giving him a gimmick where he couldn’t speak, and could only communicate via signs. That idea eventually morphed into something truly wonderful, as someone backstage thankfully noticed Gulak’s natural propensity for being a dorky goofball.

Thus, Gulak became an oblivious, self-important grassroots politician. He unveiled his plan for a better 205 Live, instituting a NO FLY ZONE and other rules like NO CHANTS, which allowed him to wave around placards and earn the hatred of the fans by trying to take away what were (at that time, at least) the only exciting and fun parts of 205 Live.

And like any good politician or good citizen, he’s man enough to own up to his own mistakes, like when he selflessly issued an apology for losing his cool and resorting to a high-flying move.

Eat your heart out, Anthony Weiner. Does any other public figure have the BALLS to throw themselves on the mercy of the populace like Gulak did there? I think not. I scoff at the mere suggestion.

And like anyone who thinks they’re smarter and more important than they actually are, he’s also thoroughly obsessed with PowerPoint. He’s like the world’s perfect middle manager. Or perhaps assistant TO the middle manager.

How deep does his dedication to PowerPoint go? Well, during a street fight on Tuesday’s episode of 205 Live, he sported taped fists with POWER and POINT written on them. And after being promised a PowerPoint presentation at TLC that fell through, he opted to crash the Kickoff panel.

That’s dedication, people.

As upstanding a citizen as Gulak has been, however, he once ran afoul of the law, when he was arrested by the fashion police.

I don’t see what the big deal is, anyway. Lots of guys in WWE wear underpants. And Gulak is definitely not CAPTAIN Underpants. He doesn’t even know who that is!

(I am also very thankful for Gulak being able to not lose his mind with laughter when Fandango touched faces with him. Bless this man.)

Most recently, Gulak has gained an extra level of visibility by becoming the surrogate (or associate) mouthpiece for current WWE Cruiserwight Champion Enzo Amore. He even got a chance to speak for Enzo entirely back when ‘Zo lost his voice. That’s when the world learned that Gulak might just possibly be the whitest person who has ever graced the face of this planet.

Don’t laugh at him, though. He’s from the streets. And he’s woke. He’s a woke man!

He’s woke, and we’re very, very, very thankful for him. Here’s hoping that we get many, many more years of getting to laugh along with Drew Gulak’s cringe-worthy line readings. We’re the lucky ones.

On Tuesday night, after a steady month-plus of vignettes, the Bludgeon Brothers of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan made their debut on Smackdown Live. Of course, these two men have been around before, for quite some time. For the majority of their WWE careers, they’ve even already been a tag team together. But this is NEW, because of the hammers. And the new burgundy gear. Maybe that’s a nod to Erick Rowan’s past as an award-winning vintner?

Anyway, the Bludgeon Brothers are here now, and doing things, which is way better than them wandering around in a greenscreen forest and hitting cameras with mallets. Probably. The last thing these two guys did as singles wrestlers was have a feud against each other. They’ve both been pretty much absent from television since at least July. So any forward progress counts, I suppose.

Luke Harper’s career trajectory continues to play out like the world’s saddest version of Cesaro, where he gets a reputation as an under-the-radar fan favorite super-worker and gets brief moments to shine, then gets shuffled back into a tag team. Except without all the titles and glory and what have you.

Anyway, back to the re-debut of the Bludgeon Brothers. In the interest of making this an ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT team than when they were in the Wyatt Family, not only do Harper and Rowan have new music, new attire, and a new entrance, they also have new names! Again, kind of.

Based on changes made to WWE.com after Smackdown Live, Harper and Rowan are now known as … Harper. And Rowan. Full stop. No first names.

WWE.com

WWE.com

Yes, the Bludgy Bubbies are now members of that sad group that includes artists formerly known as Antonio Cesaro, Alexander Rusev, and Adrian Neville, and the inverse crew of Big E Langston, Colin Cassady, and Elias Samson. In recent memory, only Charlotte has been lucky enough to have a name ADDED.

Of course, we’ll get used to this. At this point, “Antonio Cesaro” and “Alexander Rusev” sound weird, anyway. And most people referred to them as “Harper and Rowan” anyway, so one million shrugging emoticons. It’s just weird. If they wanted to make a radical re-debut, they would give them entirely new names, like PULVERIZER and CRUSHFIST. Or GORGEPUNCH and THE MURDERCAVERN. Or maybe something truly terrifying, like ROWE and HANSON. Heck, maybe their first names are scarier than their last names? I have no idea.

Welcome, Harper and Rowan. We hope we can somehow get used to your new personae.

This week, we are beyond thrilled to be joined by a legitimate living legend, the one and only Mick Foley! Whether you regard him most fondly as Mankind, Cactus Jack, Dude Love, or just dear old irrepressible Mick, there’s a whole lot of fans out there who have a whole lot of great memories of the Hall of Famer.

We were lucky enough to get to talk to Mick for a half-hour of spectacular conversation about how he’s recovering from surgery, his love of Dolly Parton, and a whole lot more. And just in time for the holiday season, he talked a lot about his love of Santa, and talked about his new book, Saint Mick, which you can pick up right here.

If that weren’t enough, we also spoke at length about NXT TakeOver and Survivor Series in this special bonus-sized episode designed to help get you through the long holiday weekend.

Make sure you send your thoughts and questions to withspandexpodcast@uproxx.com, because we’ll read the best emails on the show, and we have a lot of cool giveaways to give away.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/mcmahonsplaining-with-spandex-podcast-mick-foley/feed/0mick-foley-grid-uproxx.jpgHideo Itami Is The Next NXT Superstar To Head To WWE’s Main Rosterhttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/hideo-itami-wwe-main-roster-205-live/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/hideo-itami-wwe-main-roster-205-live/#commentsWed, 22 Nov 2017 13:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400948165

Itami’s time with the company hasn’t been entirely devoid of highlights, of course. Him hitting the Go 2 Sleep in San Jose at NXT’s biggest road show at that point was legendary and nearly broke the internet. And he won an AXXESS tournament that same WrestleMania weekend to earn a spot in the second Andre the Giant battle royal at WrestleMania 31.

But other than that, it’s been rough sledding. Itami’s recent work in NXT has involved him feuding with Kassius Ohno and coming up short in his NXT Championship match against Bobby Roode. Back in October, a report came out that indicated Itami would be heading to the main roster as part of the cruiserweight division. It looks like that was right on the money.

The steady revitalization of the cruiserweight division continues. Enzo Amore was a great start, and his work on Raw, along with the undeniable Drew Gulak, has led to renewed interest in 205 Live. Itami should add another dimension by introducing a legitimate, terrifying ass-kicker. It’s certainly not going to hurt anything.

Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free WWE Smackdown Live results for November 21, 2017. The show featured the fallout from Survivor Series, and Smackdown Live got back to business as usual, with a Women’s Championship rematch, the debut of the Bludgeon Brothers, and a main event lumberjack match.

Be back here tomorrow for the full Best and Worst of Smackdown column.

WWE Smackdown Live results:

— The show opened with Shane McMahon saying he’s proud of everyone from Smackdown Live, except for two people. He brought out Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, who traded barbs with McMahon, until Shane prepared to fire them. As he was about to do so, he was interrupted by Daniel Bryan. Bryan suggested punishing them rather than firing them, and booked them against the New Day in a lumberjack match.

— Backstage, Naomi was getting her makeup done when she was attacked by the debuting Ruby Riot, Sarah Logan, and Liv Morgan from NXT. Becky Lynch tried to make the save and was also beaten down.

— Backstage, Shane McMahon told Daniel Bryan that punishing Owens and Zayn was a great idea, then left Bryan in charge before leaving for the evening.

2. The Bludgeon Brothers defeated the Hype Bros. The Bludgeon Brothers finally debuted, with new music and ring gear. They hit a two-man Splash Mountain on Mojo Rawley, and Erick Rowan got the pin.

— AJ Styles praised Brock Lesnar, and said he’d beat him in the sequel, like Rocky. Styles challenged Jinder Mahal to a title fight, but Mahal appeared on the video board and said his rematch would take place at Clash of Champions. The Singh Brothers jumped Styles from behind, but Styles turned the tables, hit a Styles Clash, and posed with his title.

3. Smackdown Women’s Championship Match: Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair (c). Natalya won by disqualification when Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan jumped the guardrail and attacked Natalya on the outside. They then entered the ring and beat down Charlotte.

4. Lumberjack Match: Kevin Owns and Sami Zayn defeated the New Day. The lumberjacks all brawled through the ring and backstage. Zayn took advantage of the confusion to roll up Kofi Kingston for the pin.

— After the match, Kevin Owens fled through the crowd. The New Day surrounded Zayn in the ring and attacked him, then hit him with the Midnight Hour. Backstage, Owens begged Bryan not to fire them, and Bryan said he never intended to fire them, and that Owens has a singles match against Randy Orton next week.

Now, less than 24 hours later, WWE has called up another trio of talented women from NXT, and they debuted on Smackdown Live on Tuesday night, making their own strong statement.

Backstage, Naomi was having her makeup done and was looking forward to Charlotte Flair beating Natalya in a Smackdown Women’s Championship match, when she was approached by the three women in question: Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan. They introduced themselves the way wrestlers tend to do: WITH VIOLENCE.

Poor Becky Lynch tried to make the save, but it turns out that three women is more than two women. Tough luck there.

Later in the evening, during the Smackdown Women’s Championship match between Charlotte Flair and Natalya, the trio hopped the guardrail and beat down Natalya, then turned their attention to the champ and hit her with some finishers.

For those unfamiliar with these three, Ruby Riot was previously known as Heidi Lovelace on the independent scene and was one of the most in-demand women in the world prior to being signed by WWE last year. Sarah Logan previously wrestled on the indies as Crazy Mary Dobson, and competed in the Mae Young Classic this summer, but was eliminated in the first round by Mia Yim. Liv Morgan is a Performance Center product, signed by WWE in 2014 with no prior pro wrestling experience.

All three women will be welcome additions to the small Smackdown women’s division, and those unfamiliar with them are in for a treat.

]]>http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/ruby-riot-nxt-women-main-roster-debut-smackdown/feed/12Ruby Riot Liv Morgan Sarah LoganWe May Not Be Seeing The Miz On WWE Television For A Whilehttp://uproxx.com/prowrestling/the-miz-wwe-time-off-reason/
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/the-miz-wwe-time-off-reason/#commentsTue, 21 Nov 2017 15:15:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=400946054

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Over the past few years, The Miz has been the secret (and at times not-so-secret) MVP of WWE. Whether it’s burning Daniel Bryan alive with one of the best promos in recent history, or creating some of the best pure comedy in years, or just having terrific matches, Miz can do it all. Just ask him.

If that weren’t enough, poor Mike Mizanin got triple-powerbombed through a table after Raw went off the air. After it went off the air!

Well, as it turns out, there is a reason for all of these Ls Miz has been taking of late. PWInsider is reporting that Miz will be taking time off from WWE, effective immediately, and his lost title and table-based humiliation and injury is him getting written off television for the time being.

Miz is taking time off to film another installment of The Marine franchise, which would the fourth turn for Miz as the lead in the film series. The timing works out pretty well for Miz to take some extended time off, what with Maryse being off television during her pregnancy. Although … yeah, go ahead and pray for the Miztourage of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, who might just begin floating in the ether and waiting for Miz to make it back.